Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Today the Cabinet continued discussing the 2008 performance reports of the RA ministries and government agencies
In the first half of the day, reports were submitted by the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the Ministry of Economy and the State Revenue Committee by the Government.
In connection with the report of the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration, not only did the Prime Minister touch upon territorial development-related problems, but he also spoke about such actions as will have to be carried out over the next 3-4 years under the medium-term expenditure program. “We are going to commence the drafting of the 2010 State budget law, therefore today there is a need of discussing such redistribution proportions as are necessary to ensure that the pace of regional development is higher than that of the capital city,” the Prime Minister stressed and underscored the need for increased allocations to marzes.
Concerning the problems raised in the report of the Minister of Economy, the Prime Minister noted that a possibly efficient use of time should be made in order to address the multitude of problems faced: “Developing individual branches of economy should be central in the anti-crisis action plan,” the head of government said. He stressed the need for making a more realistic evaluation of Ministry’s resources, initiating serious study work and using the results of intellectual activities to build up capacity in close cooperation with the Civil Service Council.
With reference to the report of the head of the State Revenue Committee and speaking about the tasks set for FY 2009, the Prime Minister said in particular: “2009 is expected to be the most difficult period for us because the global crisis is generating numerous problems in the area of revenue collection which can slow down the reforms. Nevertheless, we must meet the planned targets and, in this respect, I think that all ministries and government agencies should back the State Revenue Committee with this important task.” Tigran Sargsyan appreciated that the leadership of the Committee are well aware of those challenges facing the agency. According to the head of government, all agency heads must realize that the State Revenue Committee cannot address the problems on its own. The Prime Minister indicated that a special focus should be placed on social dialog and public awareness raising measures, because the lack of information accounts for most of popular complaints. “We get support each time we meet with small and medium-size business representatives, market administrators, individuals and explain the objectives and the tools behind the reforms. This means that in 2009 we should allocate more resources to information and public relation services for reform-oriented awareness raising programs. Any amendment or reform should be anticipated by sufficient notice given to those concerned. If we see that the public is not yet prepared to accept a measure, we ought to postpone it for some time,” the Prime Minister said. In the second half of the day, reports were submitted by the National Security Service and the Police.
In connection with the report of the RA Police, the head of government mentioned that there is still much to in terms of bringing in skilled professionals, raising wages and augmenting the level of budget allocations. He stressed that due to the global crisis criminality is growing worldwide. Increased funding is supposed to enhance preventive enforcement capacity in 2009.
On behalf of the Government and on his own behalf, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan expressed deep condolences to the family and close relatives of late Deputy Head of Police Gevorg Mheryan who was killed yesterday at the entrance of his home. After hearing the performance report submitted by the Police, the meeting was provided information on the operative-intelligence actions carried out so far which was later on made public by the Police.
