EFRA supported Armenia’s economic resilience by enhancing institutional capacity, policy reform, and competitiveness in tourism, IT and Agriculture sectors. As a major subcontractor JAA managed several components of the project including tourism and IT sector development and collaboration between these sectors. JAA led the strengthening of the business environment, development of government institutions’ capacity, and public-private dialogue. Particularly, JAA conducted a diagnostic of the Ministry of Economy’s, Enterprise Armenia’s and the Tourism Commission’s capacity, using JAA’s Participatory Institutional Capacity Assessment and Learning (PICAL 2.0) tool. Partnering with key government bodies such as the Ministry of Economy (MOE), Tourism Committee (TC), and Enterprise Armenia (EA), the project facilitated strategic policy development including the Export Strategy 2025–2030, Entrepreneurship Strategic Program, and a new Law on Investments. JAA contributed to participatory assessments and strategic planning, facilitated extensive public- private dialogues and focus group discussions with tourism sector stakeholders, including business membership organizations, to ensure inclusive regulatory reforms drafting and regulatory assessment of four tourism-related sub-laws, including those on tourist services, hotel information standards, criteria for tourism villages, and financial guarantees for outbound tourism. In September 2024, JAA supported a study tour to Georgia for Armenian tourism businesses and organizations to exchange best practices in sustainable tourism and cluster development. JAA also engaged local communities and municipal leaders in the feasibility study for the Areni Tourism Cluster, incorporating socio-economic, environmental, and financial inputs from field visits.

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Duration: 2023-2025