Most small and medium-sized businesses are in the trade and services sector. This is what Director for Development at Ameria Bank Tigran Jrbashyan declared today as he presented the study entitled “Current State of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses and Prospects for Development”.

According to him, this image makes Armenia stand out from CIS countries and countries of Eastern Europe with which Armenia was compared during the implementation of the study. “When we talk about the policy on small and medium-sized businesses and the strategy on development of small and medium-sized businesses, we need to take into consideration the fact that we are mainly dealing with small trade outlets and beauty salons, not small enterprises,” Jrbashyan stated.

Based on the study, the turnover of small and medium-sized businesses comprises nearly AMD 3.5 trillion and is mainly concentrated in Yerevan. Jrbashyan also cited data from another study according to which Armenia is among the four countries where businessmen “don’t set the goal to change the world”, but have the goal to ensure financial profit.

Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia Babken Tunyan, who was attending the discussion, said he wasn’t surprised by the situation and stated that most enterprises in Armenia are in the trade sector since businessmen are trying to make a living and it would be illogical to set a goal to change the world. Tunyan said citizens of Armenia have failed to achieve success in their country for many years and said he was certain that approaches will change in the country over time.

However, Jrbashyan didn’t link the results of the study to social issues and drew the attendees’ attention to the fact that Armenia is joined with Italy where there are no such problems.