Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received representatives of the restaurant business.

The problems faced in this sphere and ways to cope with them were discussed during the meeting. “Your initiative came as an opportunity for planning meetings with representatives of all economic sectors in the near future in an effort to try to understand what we can do to not only overcome the economic crisis, but also to increase the competitiveness and efficiency of specific sectors and the economy, as a whole. I believe that even in times of crisis we should not forget this agenda. The more proactive we are in a crisis situation, the better we will pursue strategic policies,” Prime Minister Pashinyan said.

Then the representatives of the restaurant business voiced their concerns, presented the problems caused by COVID-19 and came up with specific proposals for their solution. In particular, they expressed satisfaction with the government’s anti-crisis economic actions and stressed the need for being supported in their drive to preserve jobs in the restaurant sector, which will help the industry get out of the crisis with minimal losses.

Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan informed that this issue has already been discussed in the government under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, and a project of state assistance to business for the preservation of jobs is being prepared now. The Minister gave details of those support mechanisms envisaged in the project.

The Prime Minister instructed to continue discussing the project with the private sector during the coming week, supplement it with new proposals and submit it for government approval.

The Head of Government stressed the need for continuous development of the tertiary sector and urged the business community to come up with initiatives to create modern restaurants and cafes in the provinces, which is important in terms of the local atmosphere in communities.