Monthly №2 Newsletter 2017

For a Better Business Environment

MONTHLY MONTHLY N1

№2 NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER

American Chamber Of Commerce in Armenia AmCham is an independent business association operating in Armenia since 2000. AmCham represents the interests of more than 100 member companies from almost all sectors of the economy. AmCham’s goal is to enhance US-Armenia business relations and improve business and investment climate in the country. AmCham is a member of US Chamber of Commerce and European Council of American Chambers of Commerce. AmCham is pleased to have also British, French and other European companies as members.

CONTACT US 1 Amiryan St., Armenia Marriott Hotel, 3rd floor, room 315, 317, Yerevan 0010, RA Email: info@amcham.am/ amcham@arminco.com Tel: (+374 10) 599 187 (+374 10) 587 651 Visit our page: www.amcham.am

PUBLISHED AND DESIGNED BY AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN ARMENIA

––

February 2017

AMBASSADOR RICHARD MILLS REMARKS TO THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE On 1 February 2017, the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia hosted U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills, Jr., who for the second consecutive time has chosen the AmCham as the platform to deliver his annual policy speech. The meeting was widely attended by RA Government officials, heads of various sections of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, Armenoia international donor organizations, representatives of more than one hundred AmCham member companies, and the mass media.

In his speech, U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills gave an assessment of the quality and impact of the efforts the U.S. Embassy in Armenia undertook to promote four priorities laid out during his first speech in November 2015: to deepen business and trade relations between the two countries; to partner with Armenians to fight corruption; to strengthen democratic institutions, human rights, and civil society in Armenia; and to better explain U.S. foreign policy to Armenian audiences.

Ambassador Mills also offered suggestions for next steps to continue working to advance those priorities in partnership with the Armenian people and the Government.

At the end of his speech, the U.S. Ambassador mentioned that with a new U.S. President in office, this was a time of transition, change, and also opportunities. The U.S. Embassy is working closely with Washington-based colleagues at the U.S. State Department to provide members of the new Administration the background and information necessary to fully appreciate the U.S.-Armenia relationship and the depth of friendship that the two countries enjoy.

The official part of the meeting was followed by a reception, where AmCham members had a chance to converse with Ambassador Richard Mills and other representatives from the U.S. Embassy in a less formal atmosphere.

FRIDAY NIGHT NETWORKING EVENT AT PAPARAZZI CAFÉ On Friday, 17 February 2017, AmCham organized a casual get-together for its members at Paparazzi Café. Located in the heart of Yerevan, roof-top Paparazzi Café welcomed over 50 representatives of AmCham community with its warm and cozy atmosphere. AmCham community had an excellent chance to network and promote their companies in a relaxed and social environment, while enjoying special cocktails and tasty appetizers.

“

Thanks to AmCham for organizing

Friday Night. It was a nice evening and meanwhile very productive networking event: AmCham unlocked potential

1

partnership opportunities for SOS Village introducing me to the companies I was targeting.

Ms. Vanane Ararktsyan, Corporate Fundraiser at SOS Children’s Villages

”

Armenia

AMCHAM HELD THE FIRST WORKSHOP WITHIN THE “RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS NETWORK” Within the framework of the newly launched “Responsible Business Network,” on 28 February 2017, AmCham in cooperation with “CSR Armenia” NGO, organized a workshop/discussion for RBN member companies that are implementing or planning to implement CSR projects as part of their core business operation. The workshop perused the goal of setting the network’s operation and funding guidelines, with 25 representatives present at the event.

The workshop started with short introduction of what RBN is, its creation history, as well as a brief on what is CSR and how to be a responsible business.

Later on, the participants were actively engaged participate in discussions by not only introducing themselves, their

“

Thanks to AmCham

Armenia for this initiative and for bringing together different

”

companies on RBN platform.

1

Ms. Nina Soghoyan, Manager at KPMG Armenia cjsc

companies, the directions of CSR that they pursue, but also by providing the workshop participants their own understanding of what the internal rules, expectation from the network, and the guidelines for project funding should look like.

Overall, the workshop was a great success, uniting a number of large, medium, and small companies around the same important cause of CSR and providing them with excellent networking opportunities. Furthermore, the workshop was the first step towards finalizing the network’s modus operandi, with meetings planned for NGOs and corporate-NGO matchmaking in the near future.

INTERVIEW WITH…

Anush Petrosyan Chief Financial Officer at FINCA Q: What was your journey like to get where you are today?

A: It’s the hard work, persistence, and, no matter what, following your dreams.

When I was at school I had a dream to get an education in the US. I did my best to reach that goal: intensively studied English, looked for opportunities to practice English with native speakers, participated in various scholarship competitions. Finally, I won the Muskie Scholarship and left for the States to do my MBA at the University of Kentucky. This gave me a huge opportunity to gain international experience, have friends from all continents of the world, learn new ways of approaching and overcoming challenges.

My next dream was to work for a company which makes an impact, helps people, adds value to the economy of my country and the world. I’ve started my career when I was still a student, as an assistant to the Board Member of the Central Bank. After returning from the States, I worked as an external auditor first in Grant Thornton, then in KPMG. The experience and knowledge that I got from those companies is invaluable, but when I moved to work for FINCA, first as a Corporate Audit Manager, and then as a CFO, my dream came true. Every single decision we make, we do for our clients, for our employees, for our people. We do all possible and impossible to follow our miss

mission to help people improve the quality of their lives, provide them access to finance, otherwise not accessible to them.

Q: What are the qualities of your leadership that make you successful at such diverse pursuits?

Q: How is it to be in the leadership position in FINCA?

A: My personal belief is that what really matters is the trust and care for your people.

At the same time, I try to be flexible, patient ,and respectful. These are my main principles that I follow no matter where I work.

A: It is very exciting. We live in an environment where everything changes so rapidly. We have to look for new ideas and new ways to do our business not just to follow the changes but to lead them. Being in the leadership in FINCA means we have to be in constant search of ways to do things better and bring the new ideas to life, mainly owing to the team of knowledgeable, enthusiastic and great people we have in the company.

Q: How does the culture of FINCA promote female employees?

A: The CEO of FINCA FMH, our shareholder, is female. In FINCA Armenia 44% of Head Office managers, as well as 55% of all staff are females. In FINCA, promotion is made based on experience, knowledge, and willingness of employees to take more responsibility, rather than the gender.

Q: What do you like the most about FINCA? A: The warmth, transparency, team spirit.

People are free to come up with new ideas, and if this would make us closer to reaching our goals, they are always given the opportunity and the necessary support to realize new projects. Every challenge is viewed as a new opportunity for us.

Q: What is the biggest contribution by FINCA to Armenia’s economy?

A: We have around 600 employees all over the country. We have 37 branches in all the regions, serving more than 45,000 clients.

We make the financing accessible to the most vulnerable population in all parts of Armenia, even in the most remote ones.

Q: How do you brand yourself?

A: I am who I am.

Q: Who is your female role-model?

A: A woman, who can manage to do everything, to do whatever she does with all her love, care, and devotion, to do it perfectly. That woman is my mother.

Q: Have you ever experienced a gender bias during your career and how did you cope with that?

A: Yes, it was only once when I’ve been rejected a promotion due to the fact that I was a female, and a male was preferred for the position. It actually made me stronger. I worked harder and did my best to prove that I deserved the promotion and eventually got it!

Q: Your message to young women who want to climb the career ladder?

A: Believe in yourself! Never be afraid to try new things, get out of the comfort zone, grab the opportunities, and follow your dreams: they do come true!

Q: What is the best lesson you have learned in your career?

A: You should always invest in yourself. The learning process should never stop. There are times when you should sacrifice your worklife balance. But at the end of the day, you gain the necessary experience and knowledge to move forward and get where you want to get.

Q: Your secret of balancing work and family life?

A: At this point of time in my life, I can definitely state that I am happy with the balance I have. I can fully devote myself to work during working hours and be a wife, daughter, and a mother the rest of the time.

The secret to this is being able to delegate all the tasks that can be delegated both at work and at home. My other little secret is to automate the household works as much as possible (bringing robots into my life ), so that I can spend more quality time with my family!

Q: In three words, describe yourself!

A: Positive, persistent and patient.