Friday, 10 March 2006
Today the Council of "Armenian Development Agency" Joint-Stock Company has held a meeting at the Office of Government, which was chaired by Council Chairman, Republic of Armenia Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.
The Council has discussed and approved the report on fulfillment by agency of the three-year credit program of stimulation of foreign investments and export of World Bank (FIEF) which includes also the report on the operations which have been carried out by the AAP in 2005.
The Councilors presented their estimates of AAP's three-year activity, highly evaluating the operations executed by the agency to address the problems set by the program. Both Chairman of Council, Republic of Armenia Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and councilors stressed the necessity of implementing a second program. "The Armenian Development Agency has carried out important action under the three-year program and has built up large amount of experience, which must be used by setting new tasks before the agency in line with the developing economy of the Republic," - the Prime Minister said, having stressed the importance of AAP's active participation, as Secretary, in the proceedings of the two councils operational under Republic of Armenia Prime Minister - Business Support Council and Information Technologies Support Council.
In attendance of the meeting, Head of the World Bank Armenia Office Roger Robinson, too, said to be highly appreciative of the outcome of AAp's three-year activity and went on to mention that similar estimations had been voiced on the part of WB MIGA organizations. He congratulated the Councilors and Agency staff on these impressing results and with its inclusion in the line of the best development agencies of the world, alongside with similar organizations of Scotland, Austria, Czeck Republic and Slovakia which were selected from 140 agencies worldwide. At the same time, he stressed that the World Bank was holding active discussions regarding the maintenance of continuous program budgeting.
The Prime Minister told Council members, Republic of Armenia Ministers of Finance and Economy, Trade and Economic Development to present within a month's time written proposals on continuous program budgeting under the project. The Minister of Finance and Economy was charged to continue negotiating with the World Bank with the purpose of implementing the indicated problems.
In his closing statement on the termination of the three-year credit program, Director General of the Armenian Development Agency Vahagn Movsisyan noted that in 2003-2005, the proceeds of the USD 1MN-worth loan available from the World Bank under the above-mentioned program, were directed towards the strengthening of AAP potential, encouraging investment and export development. In particular, Export Development Department had obtained the needed skills for effective attraction of direct foreign investments. The Investor Servicing Department had developed and improved its assets of professional skills which included the offers to eventual investors on full package deal and satisfaction of needs of foreign delegations of business cycles. The Department of Exports had developed professional skills for export market study, including the provision of export policy-related consulting services to Armenian business companies. According to the report, the AAP had ensured direct participation in organization in Armenia and abroad of more than 60 international exhibitions in various spheres, the most important and largest of which was the international exhibition held in late March, 2005 in the Japanese province of Aichi. Within the framework of the indicated exhibition the National Day of Armenia was celebrated, the opening ceremony of which was attended by Republic of Armenia Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. The Agency also organized and conducted business forums Armenia-Slovenia, Armenia-Latvia, Armenia-Japan, Armenia-Canada, Armenia-Russia. Visits were paid to 60 different organizations, as a result of which 10 companies took final decisions for investing in Armenia.
In the period under review, the Agency has carried out considerable work for investment promotion - 3 outgoing propaganda campaigns (in the USA, European, including the Scandinavian countries), and made a spadework for implemention of 3 more scheduled similar actions (in the west of the USA and in countries of Far East). As a result of the campaigns conducted, about thirty European and American companies expressed desire to meet AAP representatives and discuss possibilities for realizing investments in Armenia. Among the significant achievements obtained as a result of these outgoing propaganda actions, the Director General mentioned, in particular, the intention of such renowned companies, as Microsoft, Ericsson, Sonics, to get involved in Armenia.
According to the Speaker, on the basis of bulletins issued by Republic of Armenia National Statistical Service, the latest data on local streams of direct foreign investment, their distribution by regions and spheres, therefore by appropriate database of agency is supplemented are collected. With these databases and reports of Republic of Armenia National Statistical Service and Central Bank a number of parameters of Armenia's macroeconomic environment with which application, and also as a result of a final estimations made on their basis of other parameters, a brief document composed by agency representing the general macroeconomic status of Armenia as reconsidered had been collected. According to the developed strategic program, learning sphere of electronics engineering, granting of input services in this sphere, the sub-lattices, included in spheres of designing of semiconductors, exact instrument making, thin organic chemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutics is conducted, the tax of the statistical data on world-wide and local tendencies is carried out. Vahagn Movsisyan noted that within the framework of development of the marketing plan of developing of the most competitive spheres of our country the development program of sphere of thin organic chemistry comes true.
In the period under review, the Agency closely cooperated with the different Armenian ministries, agencies and companies. In its capacity of Secretary of Business Support Council and Information Technologies Support Council, the Agency has carried out considerable work in the framework of their activities.
