On 11 July, the third cycle of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) Assessment was launched in Armenia during the meeting of the SBA Public-Private Working Group.
The SBA is an overarching framework for EU policy on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It aims to improve the approach to entrepreneurship in Europe, simplify the regulatory and policy environment for SMEs, and remove the remaining barriers to their development.
The SME assessment in Armenia is organised by the OECD in the framework of the EU-funded project ‘EU4Business: From Policies to Action’. It will start in September and will build on the established methodology and process of previous assessment rounds.
This SBA Public-Private Working Group meeting was an opportunity for the government to present an overview of the progress achieved on implementing the recommendations provided in the last SBA assessment cycle (2015-16). It also allowed private sector representatives and key stakeholders to comment on recent developments and reform effectiveness.
In the context of the EU4Business project, the OECD carries out an SBA Assessment in all the countries of the Eastern Partnership region, monitoring progress in the implementation of the 10 principles of the Small Business Act for Europe, and measures convergence towards EU practices and standards.