Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today met with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti on the margins of the Davos World Economic Forum.

Highly appreciative of the ongoing cooperation between the Government of Armenia and the EBRD, Nikol Pashinyan stressed the need for its expansion. Pashinyan said the EBRD-supported programs are crucial to his government’s reform agenda and Armenia’s economic development. He made a point of those programs supposed to enhance the private sector’s competitiveness, develop the capital markets, improve solid waste management and water supply efficiency, provide urban lighting, etc.

The Premier singled out the small and medium-size business-targeted programs. He said the Armenian government seeks to give new impetus to business sector’s development and activation. Noting that his government is going to carry out an economic revolution, Nikol Pashinyan stressed that closer and productive cooperation with the Bank could play a great role in this respect.

Suma Chakrabarti assured of EBRD’s readiness to continue assisting the Government with the proposed programs and reforms. The EBRD President imparted his intention to visit Armenia this March to discuss the new bilateral cooperation strategy which implies greater focus on SMEs. He pledged the Bank’s support for the Government’s reform agenda in both financial and technological terms.

The parties exchanged views on various issues related to further interaction.