On October 24, the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments of the Republic of Armenia Garegin Melkonyan and the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia Piotr Antoni Świtalski announced the launch of the “EU4Business Week in Armenia” during the opening of the “Eastern Partnership 8th Business Development Panel” in Yerevan.

Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Antoni Świtalski said in his speech: “EU4Business Week starting today for the entire 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’.

The First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan said in his speech: “On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Ministry of Economic Development and Investments and myself, 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 within 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. The panel which has started today is also important in the “EU4Business” initiative implementation context, as the panel will be succeeded by a series of events aimed at the economic development, especially emerging and strengthening SMEs which will include bilateral and regional programs aimed at the development of private sector and SMEs. All these are reflection of our mutual interest and united objective to foster successful implementation of the joint programmes and move forward with enlarging and deepening our cooperation.”

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

The 8th Business Development Panel opened today focuses on innovation as an essential tool for boosting competitiveness both on 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. Country specific EU4Business webpages in local languages will follow shortly.

After the official opening ceremony of the Panel, the joint press conference of the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments of the Republic of Armenia Garegin Melkonyan and the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Antoni Świtalski took place. During the press conference the speakers summed up the results of Armenia-EU economic cooperation, represented further projects and outlined prospects of cooperation.

The workshop on SME finance on 26 October focuses on instruments of creating value for small businesses, as well as providing insights into cash flow 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 2nd 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 organizations and representatives of the EU-funded projects.

On October 26-27, for the first time in Armenia, a high level international conference “Fostering Sustainable Development in Eastern Partnership countries” will take 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.