Thursday, 25 May 2023
The Government will create new development opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry
The regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan.
The Executive approved the five-year plan for the development of the pharmaceutical industry and the program of measures to ensure its implementation. The need to develop the document is related to the effective implementation of the reforms carried out by the Government in the field, as well as the definition of the main directions of the reforms and the results expected from them. In 2021, compared to 2011, the increase in the volume of pharma manufacturing was 178.6%, and the increase in the volume of export was 103.6%. According to the substantiation, the field of pharmaceutical industry in Armenia can be described as steadily developing, but Armenian pharmaceutical companies should make significant investments in improving production facilities and equipment, increasing production capacity, as well as establishing new directions of development. Among the important prerequisites for the development of the sector is the development of the export potential, including the diversification of export markets, the organization of the production of new drugs, which will make it possible to carry out import substitution in the local market to a certain extent, and use local scientific developments for releasing new drugs for export. The provision of state support will also be an important stimulus for the development of the sector. As a result of the adoption of the decision, new development opportunities will be created for the sector, the state support toolkit will significantly increase the international competitiveness of the manufacturers. In addition, conditions will be created for the growth of the international competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry of Armenia.
As mentioned by the Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, the directions of the measures and the introduction of the necessary tools for them have been outlined for the implementation of the goals provided by the plan. "Legislative reforms, providing appropriate professional personnel and increasing the production capacity of the pharmaceutical industry, increasing local products in the domestic market, expanding and diversifying export markets, creating a local raw material base, expanding international cooperation, supporting the implementation of more in-depth research in the pharmaceutical sector, supporting the creation of the infrastructure of the pharmaceutical sector," said Vahan Kerobyan. According to the Minister, as a result of the use of the above-mentioned toolkit, it is expected to increase the production volumes of the pharmaceutical industry to 40 billion AMD in 2027 (increase 4 times), and the export volumes to 25 billion AMD (increase 5 times), increase the number of employees to 1,500 people. The budget of the project will be 2.5 billion AMD.
The Government adopted a decision to redistribute funds allocated to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports from the state budget and allocate 396,600.0 thousand AMD to the acquisition of design and budget documents necessary for the construction of educational complexes and schools in Aragatsotn, Armavir and Gegharkunik Provinces. Based on the preconditions, 7 settlements were selected in Aragatsotn Province, 4 settlements in Armavir Province, and 9 in Gegharkunik Province. Based on the results of regional visits and studies carried out within the framework of the program for the creation of educational complexes, it was decided to build new school buildings for those settlements where the school population is large: 8 settlements in Aragatsotn Province, 8 settlements in Armavir Province, and 6 settlements in Gegharkunik Province. Thus, it is planned to allocate money for a total number of 42 institutions, for the creation of 20 educational complexes and for the construction of 22 schools. Thus, it is planned to allocate money for the development of design and estimate documents and the acquisition of expert services necessary for the creation of 20 educational complexes and 22 schools.
The Government allocated 999,112.2 thousand AMD to the regional administrations of Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk, Shirak, Syunik and Tavush Provinces for the implementation of subsidy programs. Accordingly, it is planned to co-finance a number of subsidy programs for 2021, 2022 and 2023. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan informed that the Armenian government has allocated 8 billion 977 million AMD to the provinces this year to implement subsidy projects. In 2021, that amount was 4.7 billion, in 2022 - 5.9.
