Friday, 26 January 2007
Today the 2006 annual reports of RA ministries and government agencies have continued to be discussed at the Office of Republic of Armenia Prime Minister. Reports were submitted by the RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development, RA Minster of Finance and Economy and RA Minister for Territorial Administration.
In his report, Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Cheshmarityan said that in the period under review the ministry was chiefly concentrated on the maintenance of bases for prospective development of economy, the deepening of integration with the world economy, stimulation of investment activity and improvement of competitive environment within the framework of liberal economic policy, shaping of a national innovational system. Great attention has been given to the development of information technologies, expansion of international cooperation, perfection of ways and methods for State support to small and medium-size enterprises, realization of complex programs of tourism development, introduction of modern systems of technical safety in the economy. According to the speaker, a 13.4% total GDP growth was recorded in 2006. As per international criteria for economic freedom, Armenia was assigned the 32nd place among 161 countries of the world and, according to WB and IFC "Doing Business in 2007" report, our country held the 34 position (having outstripped all the neighboring countries and the CIS countries). The speaker also noted that compared to 9 months of 2005, in the same period of 2006, the volume of foreign investment increased by 31.8%, the volume of external commodity circulation rose to 3,198.3 million US dollars, the rate of growth was 115.2%. In 2006, Armenia was visited by more than 380,000 foreign tourists. According to the report, in the field of legislative improvements, during 2006 the ministry prepared and sent to the National Assembly for approval draft laws on State support to innovational activity and on copyright and adjacent rights, as well as a number of bills and program documents on economic development inclusive of the 2005-2010 program on formation and development of innovational systems in the Republic of Armenia, the concept note on the development of crafts, the program of State support to small and medium-size enterprise in 2007. The speaker presented in detail the main yearly results of ministry activities in the areas of industry, information technologies, mining, standardizations and metrology, tourism, quality control and so on.
According to the report submitted by Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatryan, a two-digit economic growth (13.4%) was recorded for the fifth year running in 2006. State budget revenue went on growing for tax and non-tax incomes. State budget expenditure (444, 0 billion drams) exceeded last year
