YEREVAN. - Some say that a small Armenian economy has limited room for activity and so cannot escape monopolies, but one cannot agree with this.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Świtalski, said the aforementioned Tuesday, at the presentation of the latest reading of the SME Policy Index for the Eastern Partnership, prepared by the OECD.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are one of the main targets of the EU support to Armenia. There are sizable facilities for comprehensive assistance, including COSME by the EU, and projects by the GIZ, to name a few. Privately business can be a good engine for growth in Armenia, given the sense of entrepreneurship inherent to Armenian people, he added.

“We are happy that Armenia has seized the opportunity to enroll in COSME and we are ready to work together in this dimension”, he said.

However, Armenian policymakers cannot neglect the fact that the achievements in fostering SME’s, however successful, still don’t meet the expectations of ordinary people.

“If you go out and ask the people around, they could say: “Could be better”. The index looks good, but Armenia needs to move ahead, focusing on the job to be done”, he said.

Not only will this empower future businessmen, increase employment and income, but also attract attention of would-be foreign investors.

“If they see that investing in Armenia is secure, and legislation is predictable, they would feel it’s time for them to come. And Armenia needs foreign investment”, the ambassador concluded.