The Government of the Republic of Armenia

To begin with, Serzh Sargsjan emphasized that the outgoing exercise was the occasion to sum up the work done over the past period. The Prime Minister went on to note that there are at least 4 reasons behind the importance of this program to our country. Firstly, the total of over USD 235 million allocated to Armenia constitutes a serious investment which will go a long way towards the development of the country. Secondly, the program addresses issues associated with road construction, irrigation, rural development, in line with our State's policy of proportional development of territories. Thirdly, the realization of the program has political and country rating components far beyond the economic implications. He made it clear that eligibility under the Millenium Challenge Program implied a certain level of development, therefore Armenia's inclusion therein evidences that our country is developing in accordance with modern requirements. And finally, the program would allow Armenia to introduce new working standards implying competition, involvement of international organizations and experts on the basis of other qualitative criteria. In view of the above, the Prime Minister said to be highly appreciative Armenia's participation in the program.

Having summed up the work done during the past year toward the realization of MCA-Armenia program, Serzh Sargsjan noted that our country, first of all, has managed to complete the preliminary stage of studies and preparations to proceed to the implementation of specific road building activities. In the opinion of the RA Prime Minister, another important factor is that the next steps to follow in developing the MCC-Armenia cooperation are coming into view: the Corporation has recently approved Armenia's participation in the program for 2008. This means that according to the Corporation, the cooperation with our country is going on successfully. The Prime Minister said to have spoken about the possibility of a second program at the meeting held with John Danilovich during his recent working visit to the USA. Serzh Sargsyan noted that after a year-long activity, our country today is ready to meet the new challenges, too. As he said, it is quite natural that higher economic requirements will be set before Armenia, as international financial organizations have named Armenia to be a country with medium per capita income. Therefore, the Prime Minister pointed out to the need of making more active efforts from now on and added that he was optimistic about future achievements the more so that domestic economy continues developing and reforms go on successfully.