The workshop was attended by Mr. Vache Terteryan, the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia (MTAI), Mr. Ashot Giloyan, Head of LSG Department of MTAI, Mr. Klaus Wendelberger, Deputy Mission Director at the Embassy of Germany in Armenia, Mr. Sergey Hovhannisyan, National Programme Officer at the Swiss Cooperation Office South Caucasus, representatives of ca. 45 enlarged municipalities, members of the working group on Local Economic Development, as well as representatives of GIZ.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister Vache Terteryan underlined the contribution to be brought by the grant fund to the economic development of municipalities and mentioned that the Fund is a continuation of fruitful cooperation with both German and Swiss governments in the recent years. Mr. Terteryan stressed the key role of LED officers in development, assessment and monitoring of the applications and reassured the readiness of MTAI to support the operation of the Fund.
Mr. Hovhannisyan expressed hope that as a result of the Fund a cooperative atmosphere will be formed in municipalities, thanks to which socio-economic development, strategic solutions and relevant capacity-building will promote improvement of the effectiveness of the actions of public and private sectors, transparency, participation and welfare.
Mr. Klaus Wendelberger expressed delightedness with the attempt of German and Swiss governments to respond to the economic hardship in Armenian municipalities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war. Mr. Wendelberger expressed hope that through the Fund it will be possible to promote production and create new jobs in communities.
GIZ Advisors Armen Keshishyan and Mher Hakobyan presented the background of the Fund, the procedure of submitting applications, the roles and functions of involved institutions, the role of the LED Working Group, schedule, as well as the assessment grid of applications. The necessity of involving all relevant groups (population, business community, etc.) in the entire process was particularly emphasized. During the subsequent Q&A session, municipalities were provided with more details about the Fund.
The first phase of applications will be completed in May 15, while the implementation of the selected applications will start on June 1. For further information and advice interested municipalities are invited to contact MTAI and GIZ simultaneously.
