In January 2017, the EU Initiative “Mayors for Economic Growth” was launched in the Eastern Partnership countries. The main objective of Initiative is to support Mayors and local administrations in the Eastern Partnership in becoming active facilitators for the economic growth and job creation at the local level.

To date, 16 Armenian Signatories have elaborated Local Economic Development Plans aimed at strengthening the local private sector. These Plans have been developed with the advisory support of the Initiative and officially approved by the World Bank.

As a result of the competition involving 50 municipalities of 6 Eastern Partnership countries, 2 Armenian communities – Dilijan and Ashtarak – were selected for participation in the Staff Exchange program under the M4EG Initiative. Having joined the Initiative in 2017, Ashtarak has already started implementation of its Local Economic Development Plan.

“Ashtarak municipality is one of 16 Acting Members of the M4EG Initiative in Armenia”, says SevakHovhannisyan, the M4EG Initiative Country Coordinator for Armenia. “Ashtarak has already elaborated its Local Economic Development Plan and requested our support inits implementation as a participant of the Staff Exchange program aimed at exchange of thebest European practices”.

Sevak Hovhannisyan adds that the main component of the Initiative is capacity building which includes learning, advisory and exchange of best practices.

“Knowing our partners’ experience will help us to avoid mistakes during the implementation of our LEDP”, notes Arthur Voskanyan, the Local Economic Development Officer in Ashtarak. He adds that one of the goals of the Initiative is to make the best European practice available through the Staff Exchange program involving the staff of the self-government bodies.

This was the main goal of the visit of Mrs. Gunta Smane, Head of Development and Planning Department at Municipality Council of Valka City (Latvia). She has been the member of the Valka Municipality Council for more than 30 years already and contributed to the development and implementation of the projects on territorial development and planning, as well as on tourism promotion.

According to the principles of the Staff Exchange program, the mission of Gunta Smane to Ashtarak was carried out on a voluntary basis with the purpose of assisting Armenian colleagues in formulating Ashtarak’s competitive advantages.

Ashtarak has much to offer. According to Arthur Voskanyan, Ashtarak is famous for walnuts, dried fruit, wines, and the development of agricultural processing will contribute to the growth of tourism in the city.

During her 3-days stay, the European guest was treated to delicious wines and dried fruits, which she highly appreciated.

“There are a lot of producers of dried fruit and wine in Ashtarak, as well as many historical sites. I would advise to promote local tourism, which would include routes to both cultural sites and producers of local products”, recommends Mrs. Smane.

As an example, she cites her hometown. In order to promote tourism in Valka, the old tourist map has undergone significant changes. Today, it marks not only routes leading to historical and cultural landmarks, but also to local producers, where tourists can try and purchase local products. Gunta Smane attaches great importance to conducting various trade shows, which may not bring immediate benefits, but will contribute to increasing the inflow of financial resources to the town in future. She stresses that the trade fair held in Valka attracts a large number of tourists not only from Latvia, but also from neighboring countries.

According to Mrs. Smane, the cooperation between the municipality of Valka and the private sector is very important. In the process of strategic planning in Valka, special attention is paid to the needs of business development and projects aimed at developing entrepreneurship, since it is the private sector that creates new jobs and ensures tax revenues to the local budget.

Representatives of the Ashtarak local self-government bodies attach particular importance to participation in the Initiative “Mayors for Economic Growth” in terms of economic, social and cultural development, as well as improving the quality of life and well-being of the population. The overall objective of the Ashtarak Economic Development Plan is the development of tourism, information technology and the agricultural processing.

Gunta Smane also shared her experience with Tovmas Shahverdyan, the Mayor of Ashtarak. She expressed the hope that in a year time the economy of Ashtarak will reach a new level of development.

Text and photos by Armine Avetisyan