ArmInfo.Germany will allocate grant and loan funds in the amount of 84.6 million euros to Armenia for the development of priority areas. Armenia's Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan announced November 22, summarizing the results of the two-day intergovernmental negotiations on the development of Armenian-German cooperation in Yerevan.
The funds, he said, will be used to implement programs in the field of renewable energy, secondary specialized education, as well as to strengthen the potential of the regions of Armenia in order to improve the quality of services provided.
In turn, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Niels Annen noted that separate assistance to the Armenian government will also be provided for the integration of the forcibly displaced population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
He emphasized that Germany sees the colossal efforts being made in Armenia to improve the investment environment, as well as in the fight against corruption. "We intend to make additional investments in this direction to consolidate the achieved results and provide an opportunity for continued development," Mr. Annen said.
According to the State Secretary, a separate agreement was also reached with the Central Bank of Armenia to provide assistance to small and medium-sized businesses. "This will increase the accessibility of SMEs to credit funds, which is especially important in the context of the formation of start-up capital. And I am sure that numerous jobs will open here," he said.
At the same time, he highly appreciated the "Crossroads of the Peace" project presented by the Prime Minister of Armenia. In this regard, the State Secretary emphasized that he intends to present this project to the representatives of the German business sector, so that they may consider the prospects that can be opened with its implementation in their investment activities.
According to the RA Statistics Committee data, foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Germany for 9 months of this year increased by 49.8%, amounting to $495.3 million. At the same time, exports decreased by 17.1% to $67 million, while imports increased by 71. 4% to $428.3 million.
The net flow of investment from Germany into the real sector of the Armenian economy reached a positive level, amounting to $1.9 million, of which $780 thousand is FDI.
The lion's share of German investment is in the machinery and equipment sector, with a small amount directed towards the production of tobacco products. At the same time, Germany has reduced investments in the production of basic metals, the provision of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning, software development, consulting and related activities in the field of IT.
