Opening of the photo exhibition “RESTART: Syrian Armenians Planting their Entrepreneurial Spirit in Armenia” and presentation of the book of the same name took place at Yerevan History Museum.

The event was organized by the project “Economic Integration of Syrian Refugees in Armenia” (EISRA) attached to the programme “Private Sector Development South Caucasus (PSD SC)”, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of Federal Ministry for Economic Development (BMZ).

German Ambassador to Armenia Matthias Kiesler noted that with more than 20.000 Syrians, Armenia received more refugees per capita than many European countries.

“It is very encouraging to see how the Syrian Armenians took their fate into their own hands by starting their own businesses. Armenia could very much learn of this optimistic spirit, of this entrepreneurial drive and of this customer oriented attitude,” the Ambassador said.

“This exhibition features photo stories of around 30 Syrian Armenian entrepreneurs of different business sectors and walks of life, age groups, gender and backgrounds, who shared their success stories in the photo booklet of the same name. What unites them is an aspiration to serve their expertise, motivation and skills to enrich the Armenian economy, thus inspiring others to follow suit,” stated team leader of GIZ PSD SC EISRA project Hans Joachim Zinnkann.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan attached importance to economic integration of Syrian refugees in Armenia, noticing that the Ministry leverages all the instruments of state support to help the target group integrate into Armenia’s business environment and fill the ranks of SME community.

The photo exhibition will be open to the public at Yerevan Mall on March 30 -April 12, and at the Republic Square Metro Station on April 13-26.