The Government of Japan will Continue to Assist SMEs in Armenia

In the meeting hall of SME DNC Armenia, there took place the session of the coordinating council of SME DNC Armenia and JICA jointly implemented program “Development of Local Production and Promotion of Local Brands – Stage 2”. It was conducted by the First Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Garegin Melqonyan and the Executive Director of SME DNC Mr. Levon Mnatsakanyan.
From the Japanese side there participated in the session the representative of JICA Uzbekistan office Mr. Murai Hiromitsu, JICA Yerevan office representative Ruzan Khojikyan, representatives of the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Armenia and the expert group of the program. As observers, there were also present the representatives of USAID and UNDP.
In his greeting speech, the First Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Garegin Melqonyan highly
appreciated the partnership with JICA and thanked for the launching of a new program. In his speech, the Executive Director of  SME DNC Mr. Levon Mnatsakanyan mentioned the high efficiency of the previous stage of the program and expressed hope that the second stage will also provide high results.

Then the head of JICA expert group Seno Ryuji presented the results of the first stage of the program and the main action plan and directions of the second stage. After the presentation, the head of JICA expert group answered the questions of the attendees. There was a discussion about the provision of efficiency of the implementation of the second stage. There was emphasized the importance of the provision of cooperation and complementary actions with other supporting institutions with the purpose of efficiency of support in the marzes (regions).

After the discussions, the First Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Garegin Melqonyanand the representative of JICA Uzbekistan office Mr. Murai Hiromitsu signed the document, which announced the official launch of the program.
The joint program is the new stage of SME DNC Armenia and JICA jointly implemented program “Development of Local Production and Promotion of Local Brands”. The previous program was implemented from March 2013 to March 2015. The final goal of the program is the collaboration of marketing methods and assistance to local SME based on the concept “One village, one production”, which has started in Japan.