The European Union is carrying out a new project in 52 of Armenia’s largest villages that will span over 30 months in order to develop local tourism and outdoor leisure. The overall budget of this project is 1,120,000 euros. 89 percent of this- 1,000,000 euros- was provided by the European Union.
Small and medium-sized projects will be implemented, with larger ones being implemented in the Lori, Tavush, and Shirak regions in order to develop villages.
The EU ambassador to Armenia Piotr Switalski presented the plan at the Gyumri Technology Center, emphasizing that Armenia’s regions are not to be compared to the capital in terms of development.
According to the EU ambassador, they would like to share the experiences of European countries, where having a civilian budget in villages was very successful. He also said that no one expects for Armenia’s condition to be improved in one night. It will be a long process, but he believes that Armenia is on the right path.
“We want Armenia’s regions to become more developed, we want to prevent emigration, and we want to reverse the process of villagers leaving and their depressive attitudes. We want Armenia to have lively communities that have a lot of work opportunities, good structures, and where people can build their futures, especially the younger generations,” Piotr Switalski said.
Nune Arevshatyan
