Armenia Marriott Hotel hosted signing ceremony between FCA and Central Bank of RA within the framework of the World Bank (WB) ASME lending program on September 29, 2010.Over 50 prominent guests attended the event; among them were representatives from World Bank Armenian Office RA Central Bank, US Deputy Ambassador, USDA high officials, top managers of other UCOs, representatives of NGOs, Mass Media, and FCA Board members.
“Today is a significant day for Farm Credit Armenia. I want to express my gratitude to World Bank and the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia for their big trust to FCA, as well as US Embassy and USDA Armenian Office. We emphasize the importance of this program as it is a brilliant opportunity for FCA to expand its activities in rural locations”, - stated FCA CEO Armen Gabrielyan.
“SME lending program is a part of the anti-crisis program of the Government of Armenia and it aims at development of SME sector. I emphasize greatly this program. Farm Credit Armenia has adopted the operation model of Farm Credit organization of the U.S. government that plays an important role in helping U.S. farmers. - noted Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Vache Gabrielyan.
“FCA is the first credit organization that was contracted by this facility along with a number of Armenian commercial banks. FCA underwent thorough due diligence of the Central Bank as well as World Bank for becoming participant of this program”, - mentioned in hisspeech the representative of the World Bank's Yerevan Office Karen Grigoryan.
“I emphasize the importance of this program for giving access to affordable credit resources to SMEs, as well as FCA’s role in Armenian agricultural market as the only financial cooperative in Armenia. US Embassy and USDA Armenian office strongly support FCA and will continue their efforts to strengthen this institution”, - said US Deputy Ambassador Bruce Donahue.