The welcoming speeches were delivered during the workshop by Mr. Garegin Melkonyan, the RA First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments, Mr. Gregory Tsouris, Deputy Head of Operations Section of the EU Delegation to Armenia, as well as Ivana Petričević, Project Manager and TAIEX Country Coordinator for Armenia at DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission.

In his welcoming speech Mr. Garegin Melkonyan, the RA First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments noted.

In recent years Armenia enjoys Twinning, TAIEX and Sigma financial assistance instruments, as well as Black Sea Cross-border cooperation provided by the European Union. Lately another instrument, called Social Protection European Union Expertise in Development Cooperation (SOCIEUX) was added.

The aim of our today's meeting is to present updated and detailed information on TAIEX and SOCIEUX instruments. Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of the RA, acting as national coordinator of EU projects, is interested in having high level of awareness about instruments, which will enable us to use these instruments maximally both quantitative and qualitative terms.

Garegin Melkonyan also answered the questions of media representatives.

More than 25 RA Government agencies, the representatives of European Delegation to Armenia and European Commission, as well as other organizations and beneficiary state institutions participated in the event.

The main objectives of TAIEX and SOCIEUX instruments were presented during the Awareness Raising workshop, including their types, implementation processes, specifications, procedures of implementation in Armenia, the main directions, as well as the detailed application procedure: from application submission to the final report. A number of other issues, related to the European instruments, were also presented in order to promote their usage by government institutions in Armenia.

The event was organized with the support of the “Support to the Coordinator of EU Assistance - Armenia” project, which is funded by the European Union.

Additional information

The Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) is an instrument of the European Commission, which supports member-states of the European Neighbourhood Policy in the areas of approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation. Armenia benefits from the TAIEX Instrument since 2007.

Social Protection European Union Expertise in Development Cooperation (SOCIEUX) is a technical assistance facility, which aimed at supporting partner-countries in order to design, manage, implement and monitor inclusive, efficient and sustainable social protection system. SOCIEUX offers support in all areas of social protection.