As part of our Info Sessions for Repatriates series, the RA Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs held an informational meeting on business opportunities in Armenia. The meeting was attended by approximately 60 repatriates from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, the United States, Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

The repatriates were welcomed by Hovhannes Aleksanyan, head of our Office’s Repatriation department. Afterwards, EU IRIS Business Incubator project coordinator Natali Nasibyan shared information regarding the program’s grants and loans, which range from 1.8 million AMD to 7 million AMD and are available to self-employed individuals, start-ups, and operating businesses in various sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and business. The program aims to finance up to 50 business plans.

The project is funded by the EU, the Austrian Development Cooperation and the Austrian Red Cross.

In the second part of the meeting, Hripsime Hovhannisyan, Acting Director of the RA Ministry of Economy Entrepreneurship Development Department, shared information about business opportunities in Armenia that may be of interest to repatriates. The meeting ended with a question-and-answer session.