Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Introducing to the staff of RA Ministry of Economy the newly appointed Nerces Yeritzyan and congratulating him on his appointment, the RA Prime Minister emphasized that, as a matter of fact, a new ministry has been formed which means that by continuing in office the minister has to carry out some structural changes as well.
"A new structure must be shaped in harmony with the structure of the Ministry of Finance to ensure closer cooperation between the two agencies. I feel all of you realize that quite ambitious programs are set before us and their successful completion depends on how you will work henceforth. The shaping of an appropriate business environment today is the most critical issue of public concern. Unfortunately, we have numerous unresolved questions and, of course, first of all we should realize that we are called to provide services to our citizens and businesses. We should support them in their activities, we should not stand aloof and act as a watchdog. We should see that our services are of high quality and competitive. You have to follow up and submit proposals concerning what services are expedient to hand over to the private sector, and also, whether a specific private sector will be able to render more effective services to the society. You should place a greater focus upon policy development issues and create a favorable business environment by streamlining the legal framework. I think that at first stage you had better concentrate upon those problems which impede business activities as they are still numerous. Public official-citizen relationships are still far from being satisfactory. In this respect, as we face an extremely ambitious task stipulated in the electoral program of the RA President: creation of such a business environment as will meet best international standards, will give us a competitive edge in the region, I wish all of you to realize that the decision of this problem will be promoted by your work. There is a key point in the program, namely the introduction of a new concept note on cooperation between public and private sectors and I believe that you will meet this target set by the President of the Republic of Armenia. The ministry will have to positively change its approaches to entrepreneurship and I feel that Nerces Yeritsyan can do it. Often it appears that our businessmen are not prepared to accept the new relationships, with those businessmen coming from the old system looking at the ministry as a higher instance the instructions of which are binding. They forget that they are private traders and the State is called to create a favorable environment for the development of the private sector. I feel that your ministry has the needed enthusiasm."
