Yerevan, June 2. /Mediamax/. The office of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center opened in Yerevan today.

Minister of Trade and Economic Development of Armenia Karen Chshmaritian said at the opening ceremony today that the Yerevan office opened only after the representations of the center had opened in all marzes of the republic. According to the minister, this fact bears witness to the fact that the government attaches priority importance to the development of the small and medium entrepreneurship in the republic’s regions.

According to Karen Chshmaritian, in the period between 2003 and 2005, 820mln drams has been allocated from the state budget for the development of small and medium entrepreneurship.

During this time, 12 000 enterprises received 280mln drams from the Credit Guarantee Center, which allowed to attract credits totaling 550mln drams.

As Karen Chshmaritian said, the share of the small and medium entrepreneurship in Armenia’s GDP totals over 40%, and 16,4% - in the export structure.

The UN Development Program (UNDP), the OSCE, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other international organizations render assistance to the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center.

The Center cooperates with Ardshinivestbank, ACBA-Bank, Inekobank and Unibank.