On 4 October, the OECD organised its third workshop in Yerevan on business statistics, presenting the findings of the OECD statistical report on SME sector in Armenia, providing structural business statistics, business demography statistics, as well as international comparisons of the Armenian SME sector.
The workshop was held in the framework of the EU-funded project on ‘Improving Business Statistics in Armenia’, part of the EU4Business: From Policies to Action programme, implemented by the OECD.
The workshop was also an opportunity to discuss issues concerning the statistics dissemination practices based on good international practices.
The workshop was structured in two parts:
- Presenting the results of the OECD statistical report on SME sector in Armenia. This session focused on presenting the SME sector in Armenia based on the report findings, provided international comparisons and recommendations on business statistics production.
- Sharing good practices on the dissemination of business statistics. A senior international expert shared international dissemination practices based on the European Statistics Code of Practice. A senior OECD expert from the Statistics and Data Division shared dissemination practices in the OECD countries.
The need to enhance the quality of SME statistics has been highlighted by the latest Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) assessment as a main priority to improve monitoring and evaluation of SME policies in Armenia. Building on this finding, and with a view to improve the design, monitoring and evaluation of its policies to support the SME Sector, the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia has requested OECD assistance to improve its capacity to collect, harmonise, analyse and disseminate official business statistics, in particular with regards to structural and demographic statistics to measure SME performance
The overall objective of the project is to build capacity in Armenian institutions to collect, harmonise, analyse, publish and disseminate official business statistics.
EU4Business: From Policies to Action is a regional project implemented by the OECD, which supports competitiveness and business environment reforms in the Eastern Partnership countries, working both at country and regional level.