Diana SARUMOVA, Armenia
PROJECT: Study on major impediments for women entrepreneurs and explore women’s rights gaps in business activity of Armenia

Skilled in banking and financial analysis, Diana has more than 15 years of professional experience in the SME and financial sector. She is the Vice President at the European Business Organization Worldwide Network and the Executive Director/Project Manager at European Business Association Armenia (EBA). Previously, she worked as a Senior Finance Expert and SME Development Specialist for USAID-funded projects focused on entrepreneurship, market competitiveness, and financial and economic development. Diana gained extensive experience in the banking sector from her previous positions as a Product Development Manager in the Business Development Department of Converse Bank and as a Chief Specialist in the Corporate Finance Department.

Holding a Master’s degree in Banking and Finances, Diana acquired academic qualification from the University of Michigan (USA), The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Russia), National Institute of Bank Management (Pune, India), and Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) State University.

“I feel extremely honored to have the opportunity to reach up to 100 enterprises from seven different regions of Armenia. The survey covered importer companies, traders, exporters, and producers. Since women’s empowerment is at the forefront of the global political agenda, female entrepreneurs should be promoted more intensively. This project made it possible to explore weaknesses and opportunities of business development for women of Armenia and structure further potential steps for their support. I am continuing working on improving the business environment that will open new opportunities for female representatives and will make their lives better, more protected, more innovative and competitive.”  – Diana SARUMOVA

Study on major impediments for women entrepreneurs and explore women’s rights gaps in business activity of Armenia

The project aimed to detect the obstacles in the major gender-specific areas for women-own enterprises and track the positive and negative trends. To achieve the above objective, Diana developed open-ended and structured questionnaires and conducted interviews with 100 women entrepreneurs. The respondents were either executives or business owners during the summer-autumn period of 2018, either from Yerevan (53,7%) or the other six regions (46,3%) of Armenia. The interviews were conducted in a face-to-face format. Diana collected the personal remarks, recommendations, and critics from the women entrepreneurs and finalized them in the assessment report. 

The action explored the impediments for women-owned businesses in Armenia and defined further strategic activities to fill the gaps in the legislation and the business environment. The survey researched the business and sectoral diversification of the male-owned but female-managed and fully female-owned enterprises and revealed the trends; for example, businesswomen tend to operate in the field of services, retail trade, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, when the male-owned businesses cover the sectors of tourism, transportation, agricultural, and IT sectors. To raise awareness of the business, governmental and other strategic stakeholders, Diana organized a Public-Private Dialogue meeting and presented the survey results. Also, the research document incorporates a list of initiatives for improvement of the legal system, investment climate, and tax and customs services in Armenia. 

Study on Major Impediments for Women Entrepreneurs and Explore Women’s Rights Gaps in Business Activity of Armenia 2018

Fellowship Programs 2018
Country Armenia
Areas of Interest Advocacy
Topics Economic development
Gender issues
Human rights
Project duration May 2018 - October 2018

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