The EU intends to provide grants of 60 million euros to representatives of the private sector in Armenia to promote the development of innovative technologies, head of Cooperation Section of the EU Delegation to Armenia Gonzalo Serrano told reporters on Wednesday.

According to him, the EU intends to implement in Armenia a large-scale program, aimed at stimulating innovative technologies in the country. The corresponding cooperation deal between the EU and the Armenian government will be signed in December of this year. In the near future, separate deals with the Ministry of Education and Science will also be signed, and in early 2019, a cooperation agreement with the Tumo Creative Technologies Center.

The program will be implemented in two directions and is aimed at stimulating the development of innovative technologies both in Yerevan and in the Armenian regions

According to him, the first direction is to support the development of the “green sector” industry: agriculture, tourism and technological parks. The EU will provide ample opportunities for start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses operating in these areas. The second direction is education: grants in this segment will be directed to publishing textbooks, manuals and teacher retraining.

The EU official said that cooperation with the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies had already started, and in cooperation with the World Bank, in-depth teaching of mathematics and other sciences in Armenian schools would be promoted.

The implementation of the program will begin in March-April of the next year, Serrano added.