Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Today the Board of Armenian Development Agency (ADA) CJSC has met, presided at by Board Chairman, RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.
The Board has heard and approved ADA's 2006 annual report, as well as the list of action and the annual budget for year 2007. The meeting agenda also featured discussion of some organizational and other matters.
With reference to agenda item 1, Director-General of "ADA" CJSC Vahagn Movsisyan reported that in 2006 the Agency concentrated on FDI attraction through continued support of foreign investors, the enhancement of Armenia's credit as a country with investment-friendly economy and the facilitation of Armenia's integration with the world economy. The promotion of exports, the improvement of business conditions and the development of the IT sector, too, were priority areas of activity. As a result of comprehensive actions carried out in the period under review, foreign direct investments were said to rise considerably in 2007, amounting to USD 300-330 million. According to the estimates of international experts, in 2006 Armenia was 27th for the level of economic liberalization while it was only ranked 42 last year. The ADA had influenced decision-makers from such renowned companies as Microsoft, Lufthansa, Sony and others to make investments in Armenia. According to the report, the Agency has taken a share in the organization of trade fairs and business forums jointly with partners from Italy, Belarus, Japan and so on. Business contacts have been established with 58 companies leading to a 3.1% growth in exports. In particular, a number of problems have been addressed with regard to domestic business environment, inclusive of the IT sector. Finally, a program of action for the betterment of business conditions has been developed.
Concerning the next agenda item, in addition to over fifty actions carried out in the period under review, Mr. Movsisyan mentioned his Agency's contribution to several business and investment conferences organized in a number of target markets, the participation in major expositions worldwide, the informational backing provided to domestic exporters through updated and replenished data base on export-supportive entities, the study of interesting foreign markets, the establishment of a pan-Armenian commercial network, the organization of business tours, the creation of a "problems-bank" dealing with trade and economic barriers in Armenia etc. It was reported that the Agency was going to focus upon the development of infrastructures in the mining, construction and tourism sectors throughout the republic in 2007.
The meeting has similarly passed decisions on Armenia's participation in the WESTEC-2007 international exposition-conference to be held at Los Angeles on March 25-30, 2007 and in the first pan-Armenian technological conference to be held at San Francisco on 4-7 of July, 2007.
