Harold Doan and Associates (press release), CA
July 7 2005

Armenia: World Bank Approves A New Rural Development Project For
Armenia

Press Release – World Bank

The World Bank’s Board of Directors today approved a new credit in
the amount of US$20 million for the Rural Enterprise and Small-scale
Commercial Agriculture Development Project (RESCAD) in Armenia.

With this four-year project, the International Development
Association (IDA) credit will assist the government to support the
development of Armenia’s small and medium-scale rural businesses by
improving the ability of farmers and rural entrepreneurs to access
markets and by stimulating market-oriented private and public
investments in rural areas.

`The agricultural sector continues to be a key sector for the
Armenian economy with significant contributions to the country’s GDP
and employment. The project aims to build on the positive development
of the sector over the past few years and will assist the government
to support the continuing development of the sector,’- said Frauke
Jungbluth, Head of the World Bank team designing the project. `The
project aims to stimulate economic development in rural areas by
supporting commercially-oriented farmers and rural entrepreneurs.`

The main target groups of the project are small and medium-scale
farmers and rural entrepreneurs who would benefit from improved
information services, access to finance, improved inputs and
technologies, and support for marketing activities. The RESCAD
project has been developed within the framework of Armenia’s
Agricultural Sustainable Development Strategy. The project has a
three-tiered approach with emphasis on the farm, agribusiness and
community levels:

The project consists of three major components:

The Rural Business Support Component will focus on improving the link
between production and markets for rural businesses. The component
will aim to enable businesses to develop their supply chains
efficiently, and to expand market opportunities through the provision
of adequate financial services and targeted business support.

The Farm-Focused Development Support Component will enable farmers to
improve their productivity, production quality and market access
through a sustainable advisory system and by increasing availability
of quality planting material.

The Community-Focused Economic Development Support Component’s
objective will be to stimulate economic development at the community
level in selected rural areas through increased capacity of the
communities to plan and manage their resources, and prioritize, fund
and maintain key infrastructure investments with clear market
linkages.

The project will also be supported by a US$ 1.755 million
co-financing Grant from the Japanese Government, supporting the
capacity building and technical assistance activities of the RESCAD
project.

The Credit will be made to Armenia on standard IDA terms, including
40 years maturity and a 10-year grace period.

Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments
to Armenia total approximately US$881 million for 39 operations.