M4EG Acting members explore development of business support services and infrastructure in Armenia.

17 June 2019

On 10-11 June 2019, the first networking study visit to Armenia was conducted for the “Mayors for Economic Growth” M4EG Signatory municipalities focusing on improving their business support services.

15 participants from the Eastern Partnership countries, including the project managers of the M4EG Pioneer Projects, local economic development officers, and even one mayor, got together in Armenia to discuss best practices and challenges associated with establishing local business support infrastructure and improving the quality and range of business services. Supporting innovation was another hot topic of the study visit. Dedicated panel discussions and presentations from the participating countries were held in Sevan city, Armenia.

“The main purpose of our event here is to exchange approaches and experiences, which work well, but also discuss things which could work better. Success stories are very important, but I would like you to be really critical, so that we come up with relevant and meaningful solutions for improvement” – said the leader of the thematic group, Mr. Lilian Danilov in the foreword to the discussions.

A significant part of the activity was familiarizing the participants with the key actors and successful approaches existing in the region. While getting acquainted with the experience of Armenia in supporting business, the delegation visited the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center (SMEDNC) in Yerevan, took a tour of Gyumri Technology Center, visited the M4EG Pioneer Project in Sevan municipality “EU4Sevan: SME platform for Business Development and Innovation, and Dilijan Municipality Tourism information Center”,and familiarized themselves with the tourism support infrastructure of Dilijan.

During the study visit, the Memorandum of Cooperation between the M4EG Initiative and the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center was signed.