The European Union will help Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia to train 200 unemployed young men and women in coding skills.

Mr Artashes Vardanyan, startup acceleration program manager at the center, told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am.

This will encourage active software companies to open branches in Gyumri, he added.

Gyumri (former Leninakan), which is the second largest city of Armenia, hosted more than 40 plants and factories. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, nearly all of them closed down. This makes unemployment particularly acute in the city.

Enrollment in training courses will require a test on maths and logical thinking. “We are not going to test them on coding, because we are committed to teach them from scratch and give them some basics in 5-6 months. This will take them as far as they want, if they stay focused on their studies,” Vardanyan said.

The project aims to land employment contracts to 90% of participants (180 people). This is the demand which comes from companies already residing in the Gyumri Technology Center (GTC), opened with the assistance of the World Bank.

“More companies want to come and open branches in Gyumri. If they see they have enough professionals to pick from, this will positively affect their decisions,” Vardanyan said.

The content of the courses will be decided based on the demand of the companies.

Training will be held at the Gyumri Information Technologies Center (GITC) – a training institution opened with the assistance of the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR). Microsoft experts will contribute to training, said the GITC director, Ms Amalia Yeghoyan.

“We hope that along the way our trainees will think of opening their own startups. This will enhance the acceleration program, started by the Enterprise Incubator Foundation,” she added.