Friday, 15 June 2012
Tigran Sargsyan: Armenia Shall Have A More Diversified Economy To Face New Challenges
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan attended the opening of the 5th Annual “Digitec” business forum.
Welcoming the participants, the Prime Minister said, “Already traditional, Digitec holds a place of its own in the sphere of information technologies. It provides a unique platform where experts can trade in know-how and present their achievements. I would like to state an important to our country fact: Armenia’s economy is back to its natural and normal status. On the long run, our country cannot but build a knowledge-based economy, strong with a wealth of intellect and well-educated citizens as evidenced by rapidly developing information technologies.”
Tigran Sargsyan advised that a 6-point advance was acknowledged to our country in the World Bank’s latest country competitiveness report. “What matters most is that Armenia has become stronger in the wake of the global financial crisis: analysts mean that our economy is more diversified than it was in 2008 and, in this respect, it boasts enhanced immunity against threats. An important role was played by the IT industry, which even posted a 27% growth in 2009 when construction fell by 42%. This pace of growth has been upheld during the past 5 years,” the Prime Minister said.
As a result, the IT sector employs as many people today as the mining sector does, with the difference that wages are far and away higher in the IT sector than in mining industry. Tigran Sargsyan said it is quite important since information technologies are supposed lead to increased productivity in all sectors of the economy, which implies that Armenia will have a more diversified economy, ready to face new challenges ahead.
The Prime Minister reminded that some 5 years ago, Armenia was behind its next-door neighbors in terms of Internet users, tariffs, infrastructures and accessibility. “5 years later, we can state that we are the first country in the region by those indicators which is a key achievement for the economy,” Prime Minister said.
Assuring of his government’s firm determination to support the domestic IT companies and promote competition in this field, the Prime Minister noted that due to this fact several world-renowned IT companies have come to Armenia in recent years.
The Premier reminded that the Prime Minister-headed IT development council deals with the problems available in this field in close cooperation with sector representatives. Tigran Sargsyan believes this interactive dialog to be behind Armenia‘s taking over the lead in the regional race.
In the words of the Prime Minister, the IT executives seek a stronger focus on education and training from the government. “We badly need in graduate specialists, with the annual labor market demand exceeding the output by 20-30%. We assured industry representatives that training will be a priority and that the number of State-ordered places will be dramatically increased in the universities, which calls for additional money injections,” the Prime Minister said.
Tigran Sargsyan advised that the government is cooperating with international organizations in this area. Exciting lab projects are being developed based on the principle of co-financing, which involve the State, the private sector and international donor organizations. Five such laboratories were said already operational at the Gyumri technopark. A new building is under reconstruction at the technopark: “All this points to the government’s belief that information technologies should be developed harmoniously in Armenia,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Wrapping up his remarks, the Prime Minister familiarized himself with the activities and future plans of participating companies…
Digitec is attended by 59 organizations, including 21 foreign companies. This two-day forum seeks to promote innovational approaches and new products in the IT sector.
The event is held under the high patronage of the Prime Minister of Armenia.
