Narek Karapetyan: Georgian government assists any citizen over 18 in  opening up small business, but what about Armenia?

ArmInfo. In Georgia, the country is run by a businessman, while in Armenia, it's run by a tabloid journalist. Narek Karapetyan, a board member of the Strong Armenia party, wrote about this on his Facebook page, comparing the two countries.

He noted that in Georgia, any citizen over 18 who wants to start or  expand a small business receives support under the "Produce in  Georgia" program, which offers preferential loans. According to the  party board member, these loans are 7-8%. "And what percentage are  your loans in Armenia - 14-15%?" Karapetyan asked.

It should be noted that on May 12, during the opening of the "SME  Sector: Impact and Development Challenges" forum, Daniel Azatyan,  Chairman of the Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA), noted that of the  approximately 115,000 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises  (MSMEs) operating in Armenia, only 16,000 have loans, while tax  revenues account for just over one-third. Moreover, the SME sector's  share of Armenia's GDP is approximately 35%, compared to 50-60% in EU  countries and 45-50% in neighboring Georgia. According to the UBA  Chairman, each enterprise has an average of 3-4 loans, or  approximately 56,000 loans in total, with a total portfolio of 2  trillion drams.