Republican Party of Armenia

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with the representatives of small and medium-size businesses. The meeting was attended by National Assembly Vice President Hermine Naghdalyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan, Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan, Economy Minister Karen Cheshmarityan, as well as numerous civil society representatives.

Addressing those present, the Premier said, “Well aware of the role of small and medium-size enterprises in the country’s socio - economic development, economic growth and job creation, the government keeps in focus the SMEs. We will use every possible tool to support the development of this sector. Assistance will be implemented through the following instruments: start-up business support, loans and loan guarantees, as well as new tools to support local economic development and individual businesses.”

The Prime Minister said the Government is looking forward to launching a USD 25mn-worth loan program with the Asian Development Bank to support businesswomen engaged in small and medium-size enterprises.

Hovik Abrahamyan stressed that specific steps shall be taken to provide a propitious tax environment and reduce the tax burden, including the turnover tax.

“We are going to consistently improve the business environment by curbing the barriers to doing business, the number of mandatory licenses and permits. New electronic systems will be introduced, inspections will be minimized,” the Prime Minister noted.

The Prime Minister assured that any legislative initiative, problem or proposal will be discussed with them. The representatives of non-governmental organizations and private companies presented their observations and concerns.

The SME representatives welcomed Hovik Abrahamyan’s approaches and thanked him for consistency in addressing the existing problems.

The parties agreed that this kind of meetings should be held on a regular basis.