YEREVAN, November 26. /ARKA/.  Armenia is an important partner for EBRD, where it has invested over EUR 2.4 billion across 220 projects, EBRD Managing Director for Turkey and the Caucasus, Elisabetta Falcetti s said in an exclusive interview with the ARKA news agency.

'EBRD’s Annual Meeting and Business Forum held in Yerevan earlier this year has shone a real spotlight on Armenia, with over 2000 participants from different parts of the world,' she said.

She said this resulted in EBRD’s high record of investments in Armenia.  

'During this year we have already committed to invest EUR 374 million across 15 transaction and it is likely the number to surpass EUR 400 million by the year end. As an indicative comparison how large the volume was, for the past 5 years we invested in average of EUR 130 million per annum in Armenia,' she said.

According to her, supporting private sector development is one of the main priorities for EBRD in Armenia. And one of the main instruments of reaching out to businesses is via local banks. 'We normally provide financial package to our local partner banks to be on-lent to the private sector to support their growth, competitiveness, making their practices more sustainable and environmentally friendly. These credit lines are offered to businesses along with incentive grants and technical advice provided by our donor partners, such as EU.  

We have also made significant progress in our own Refugee Response Plan. Number of upskilling and reskilling initiatives were designed and implemented for the refugees to facilitate their economic integration. A significant financing package of EUR 44million will soon be announced and deployed via several partners banks for the benefit of refugees.  

We have also been actively supporting the development of the infrastructure in Armenia. These efforts complement and support the Government’s Crossroads of Peace initiative. One of the most notable projects for this year was funding the construction of Sisian-Kajaran road part of the North-South corridor infrastructure rehabilitation. As Armenia is landlocked, solid road infrastructure is crucial for an efficient flow of trade that can support the value chain, increase diversification and accelerate the growth of the private sector and the economy as a whole. This is a big priority for Armenia that will significantly improve the connectivity of Armenia with its neighbours.

Construction of new customs and logistics centre in Syunik, was another important project to enhance trade and simplify export and import procedures for Armenian businesses. The project also has a soft component to integrate refugees into labour market in Armenia. What is more, the centre will be built to international energy efficiency standards and be one of the country’s first public structures to qualify as a “green building”.-0-