EU4Business Week: Europe seeks to support Armenia-based SMEs

EU4Business Week: Europe seeks to support Armenia-based SMEs

PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia Piotr Świtalski and the country's First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan announced on Monday, October 24 the launch of the EU4Business Week in Armenia during the opening of the Eastern Partnership 8th Business Development Panel in Yerevan.

Running from October 24 to 28, the EU4Business Week will highlight the EU support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a series of events to facilitate private-public dialogue for the benefit of businesses both in the Eastern Partnership countries and in Armenia.

Świtalski said: "EU4Business Week makes Armenia the centre of various events and activities that highlight EU's role in supporting economic development, innovation and businesses in the entire Eastern Partnership. It is very symbolic to launch the week by the Business Development Panel. SMEs provide the vast majority of the job opportunities, therefore the economic opportunities linked to SMEs should also be significant. This initiative launched is a strong signal for the EU commitment to support businesses, for the direct benefit of real economy and increasing the country’s and the region’s competitiveness."

First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan said: "On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Ministry of Economic Development and Investments and on my behalf, I welcome the launch of the EU4Business Week in Yerevan and extend my gratitude to our European partners for this outstanding initiative. Armenia attaches great importance to the EU assistance provided to partner countries in the framework of the Eastern Partnership for the implementation of the economic reforms with a special focus on ensuring and deepening of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The competitive and effective small and medium-sized enterprises are one of the most important preconditions for the economic development in our country. Today’s conference is also important in terms of the implementation of the “EU4Business” initiative, given the fact that it will be succeeded by a series of other events aimed at the development and strengthening of economic enterprises and especially SMEs. They will include bilateral and regional programmes aimed at the development of private sector and SMEs. These events reaffirm our mutual interest and common objective to foster successful implementation of the joint programme and move forward with enlarging and deepening our cooperation.”

The 8th Business Development Panel focuses on innovation as an essential tool for boosting competitiveness both at regional and national level. The panel will also officially launch the pilot version of the EU4Business Website aiming at making EU support to businesses more accessible and visible.

Implemented by EBRD, the workshop on SME finance on October 26 focuses on instruments of creating value for small businesses, as well as providing an insight into cashflow analysis, private equity, debt and credit risk analysis as essential tools to mitigate financial risks, attract investment and achieve greater success in SME development. The East Invest 2 Annual Partner Conference on 27 October will highlight public-private dialogue as a vehicle for business reforms. The EU4Business week concludes with an official launch of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development in Armenia (SMEDA) on 28 October. All events will be attended by Armenia’s development partners, international organisations and representatives of the EU-funded projects.

In addition, on October 26-27, for the first time in Armenia, a high level international conference "Fostering Sustainable Development in Eastern Partnership countries" also takes place. Representatives of central, regional and local authorities will gather in Yerevan to discuss new EU initiatives and instruments for sustainable urban development and best practices for successful modernisation of urban infrastructure in the Eastern Partnership countries. The conference will feature a signing ceremony with 25 mayors of new signatory cities from EaP countries to join the new Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy including 4 from Armenia.

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