ArmenPress
April 23 2004

DAI ASME HELPS ARMENIAN COMPANIES TO SEEK NEW MARKETS

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS: Armenian companies showcased their
products at around 20 international fairs with the support of
Armenian Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), a project implemented
by Development Alternatives Inc (DAI), a USAID funded consulting
firm.
Garry Kilmer, the coordinator of this projected that was first
launched in 2000, September, told Armenpress that studies are being
made in Persian Gulf and Middle East markets, where some of
Armenia-made products can compete with locally manufactured ones.
“We are less interested in EU or US exhibitions as the great
majority of Armenian companies do not yet have appropriate
certificates to allow them to export their products to their markets,
as food safety requirements are now much more stronger there than
before, while many Armenian companies cannot yet meet these
requirements,” he said, adding that some 150 Armenian companies seek
DAI ASME advice regularly.
DAI ASME has helped a privately run food testing laboratory to get
ISO certificate of a world-known Swiss SGS company, which Kilmer says
is the sole such laboratory in the region.