On 19 July the Amasia wool-processing factory, supported by the European Union, began operations. The factory was established within the framework of the “EU4Shirak: Wool for Jobs” project. The EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Świtalski, RA Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Vache Terteryan, and the Governor of Shirak marz Tigran Petrosyan, together with other officials of the state, regional organizations and guests participated in the official opening of the Amasia wool factory. They took a short tour in the factory to see the new equipment and wool-processing techniques, as well as to speak to employees.
Ambassador Świtalski thanked everyone for coming and mentioned that it was an honour for the EU to support such a project: “Greetings to the wonderful people of Amasia, who live in a wonderful corner of Armenia. I hope very much in the coming years this place will be the future of Armenia. This project has been developed and implemented by a consortium of partners and I want to thank them for the wonderful idea and for their dedication to make it real. For me the main advantage of this project was Amasia itself. I visited Amasia before and I thought this place needed new impetus. So I want to thank all the people involved in the implementation of this project”.
Deputy Minister Terteryan welcomed everyone and thanked them for their support: “The factory will promote economic activity, create new jobs, and reduce unemployment in the region. This project is unique among PRDP projects because it was more ambitious – the proposed action follows a value chain development approach for woollen products, from sheep to customer. If we succeed here, we will have a good base from which to solve this problem in other livestock breeding regions of Armenia. I hope the factory will not only expand its production volume, but also export geography”.
The wool produced in Amasia and neighbouring villages is known to be exceptionally thick, with up to 16 natural colours. This makes it ideally suited for the production of carpets, rugs and various textiles. Annual production capacity of the factory is 25 tonnes of wool. Within “EU4Shirak: Wool for Jobs” project, wool-processing specialists were trained by professionals from Europe and Armenia. They gained the necessary skills to work in the new factory or elsewhere in the wool sector. Moreover, the project offers funding opportunities to local 14 small- and medium-sized enterprises operating within the newly established wool value chain. This will increase their market competitiveness and support economic growth in Shirak marz. The factory has 16 employees and is expected to have 23.
“EU4 Shirak: Wool for jobs” is being implemented by People in Need – Armenia (PIN) in cooperation with Women’s Development “Resource Centre” Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Shirak marz and the Amasia Municipality. It is co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia through the Pilot Regional Development Programme (PRDP). The project has a total budget of €549,819 (the EU contribution is €335,000) and it will run until 2020.
