COAF AND HSBC BANK ARMENIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

NOYAN TAPAN
DECEMBER 4, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The signing of the agreement on the
Environemntal Protection and Women’s Entrepreneurship Developement in
Rural Areas project by the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) and HSBC
Bank Armenia CJSC took place at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Yerevan on
December 4. The agreement was signed by Garo Armen, COAF Founder and
Chairman of Board, and Tim Slater, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC
Bank Armenia.

The project’s budget is 36 thousand USD, 25 thousand USD of which is
provided as a grant by the bank, and 11 thousand USD is allocated
by COAF. The purpose is to organize production and wide use of
environmentally friendy, reuse bags made of cloth, which will replace
paper and plastic bags. According to the project’s executives, the
project is unique and long-term as it will solve a number of problems
peculiar to rural areas of Armenia.

In the words of G. Armen, this cooperation of a charitable organization
and a financial company is an excellent example aimed at ensuring a
clean and safe environment and encouraging women’s entrepreneurship
in rural communities. Another partner of the project is the network
of supermarkets "Star", which, like HSBC Bank Armenia CJSC, does not
pursue any interest while participating in the project.

T. Slater stated that by tradition, their bank implements charitable
projects for vulnerable groups of the population and for children’s
education, but it agreed to cooperate with COAF on this project which
will help ctreate not only a clean environment, but also a stable
business environment.

Director of "Star" network Vahan Kerobian announced that they had
expressed a willingness to buy the first set of bags (1,000 ones)
for their trade network. It is envisaged introducing a system of
bonuses to encourage customers to use bags repeatedly.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress