Friday, 2 December 2016
PM: “The SME Development Council must include all stakeholders”
Chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the SME Development Council held today a regular meeting in the Office of Government.
Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister was briefed on the implementation of the assignments issued at the previous meeting. In particular, the Council was presented the results of the activities carried out to set up a procedure for the issuance of country of origin certificates for goods manufactured in Armenia in the framework of public procurements.
The meeting discussed a series of amendments to the SME-related provisions of the Criminal Code and the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia, some problems existing in the buyer-supplier chain, as well as the work on the establishment of a business incubator.
As part of the agenda, the meeting discussed issues related to customs regulations, the proposed legislative changes concerning administrative offenses in the Republic of Armenia, the leasing as an alternative financial instrument and so on. During the exchange of views the followed, the speakers came up with a number of comments and suggestions.
Prime Minister Karapetyan stressed the importance of a comprehensive study of these problems and requested the representatives of responsible authorities to further discuss the above issues in the shortest possible time in order to finalize the stakeholders’ positions and submit proposals at the next meeting.
Stressing the importance of providing targeted support to small and medium-sized businesses, Karen Karapetyan noted the need to improve the effectiveness of the Council’s activities. The Head of Government instructed the Minister of Economic Development and Investment to submit proposals on the Council’s composition and work directions at the next meeting of the Council.
“We need to reconsider the basic approaches and principles that should be laid at the heart of the Council’s activities. The SME Development Council should involve all the layers representing the sphere. The Council should become a platform to formulate such initiatives as may help remove the existing barriers and develop SME,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
