Armenia’s Minister of Economy Karen Chshmaritian and  European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs  Elżbieta Bieńkowska today signed an Agreement on Armenia's participation in COSME (Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Programme) in Brussels. The Agreement will enter into force in January 2016.

Armenia became the second Eastern Partnership country (after Moldova) to join COSME, Armenia’s Ministry of Economy press-service reports.

Armenia is part of the Enterprise Europe Network, a key component of COSME, since its inception. The Enterprise Europe Network helps SMEs to develop and facilitate their internationalization, providing them with access to the EU market and innovative technology.

COSME will support involvement of women in entrepreneurship, reduction of the administrative burden of companies, as well as intellectual property rights protection for companies operating in non-EU countries.

COSME is an EU Programme aimed at strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs running from 2014 to 2020 with a budget of €2.3bn.