Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Fair competitive environment is a government priority
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan attended the presentation of EV Consulting Co. and “Economy and Values” research center-published Armenia’s Fifth National Competitiveness report for 2013-2014.
The Prime Minister said the government has been cooperating with EV Consulting, which has a significant influence on the formation of the government’s economic policy.
According to Tigran Sargsyan, his government’s most important priority is the formation of a fair and equitable competitive environment. Should there be tangible progress in this area. The executive’s primary mission would be achieved for the coming years.
“We attach great importance to this circumstance considering that a level playing field is the economy’s driving force and that equal conditions may have a far greater influence on the economy than the other factors. What matters most here is the private sector’s opinion as to which way the problem should be tackled,” the Prime Minister noted.
The head of government finds that efficient redistribution of funds is the second fundamental problem that can lead to SME development as a second political priority. According to Tigran Sargsyan, it is rather a serious political than economic challenge since civil society cannot be formed without a middle class.
Intellectual capacity building is the third important task. Our State needs highly qualified professionals as economic reforms would have been impossible without them.
Concerning the government-private sector cooperation, Tigran Sargsyan stated in part, “The government no longer has the right to keep aloof considering that businesses should be able to find solutions on their own. This is why the government has initiated a proactive industrial policy. Of a few hundred spheres we identified 11 sectors where there is a serious development potential,” the Premier said.
The Prime Minister said for the first time the government has assumed a commitment with regard to the private sector. The State should extend substantive support to enterprises in these fields, which in turn have to demonstrate that a new cooperative medium could be built with the State.
“Some favorable developments can be seen already. For instance, we are enthusiastic about the pharmaceutical industry, where we have 35% growth in annual exports. The private sector is making investments, discovering new sales markets and introducing new standards. This experience should be made visible to the private sector to push ahead with our drive of public-private sector partnership. Note that we are supporting medium-sized businesses, which is a political priority for us,” Tigran Sargsyan emphasized.
The Prime Minister noted that significant progress is being made by IT companies. According to the Prime Minister, public-private sector partnership is carried on operatively in this field: any problem is discussed and addressed in a timely manner. Tigran Sargsyan added that the IT industry is rapidly evolving ushering in a qualitatively new stage of development. We need to make a move that will open up new development prospects.
The head of government stressed the importance of the private sector’s initiative to set up a venture fund in Armenia. “Venture capital goes into those areas strong with new knowledge. We deem it quite important that the estimates made by the IT sector and the World Bank witnessed that we have reached such a level that it seems to be possible to create a venture fund, which will start its activities in the IT sector where we have 300 successful companies.” Tigran Sargsyan said.
The Prime Minister noted that there are such areas in the IT industry, where we can boast a place of our own in the global marketplace. In this regard, he was said to have been pleased with Mentor Graphics Corporation President Gregory Hinkley’s statement that Armenia has a 5% stake in the field of chip design. This is twice as much as the share of domestic brandy industry in the global economy.
The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of transnational corporations’ involvement in Armenia as they are bringing in a new business culture, environment calling for innovative institutional solutions and creating a competitive playing field.
EV Consulting Co and “Economy and Values” research center introduced the fifth national competitiveness report under the motto of “Growth imperative and obstacles.” The report seeks to expose major challenges and restrictions on the way to long-term and sustainable growth in our country. The report is aimed at promoting public-private sector dialog by means of a remedy action agenda.
