Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Republic of Armenia Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan attended the 30th jubilee session of the CIS interstate council on anti-monopoly policy in Yerevan.
Addressing those present, the head of government said it to be important that such a key gathering is being held in Armenia and added in particular, “We are concerned about the existence of monopolies in the Armenian economy which are caused by the black economy and limited access to international markets due to logistical bottlenecks. Small and medium-size entities cannot afford to bring in goods only through Georgia and Iran as they are too expensive, and the field proves to be left to major actors. Armenia’s geopolitical situation is another impediment to economic competition inside the country.”
The Prime Minister stressed that the crisis may create serious incentives for the conduct of anti-monopoly policies and implementation of ambitious programs. According to him, the government’s internationally hailed anti-crisis action seeks to diversify the national economy, prop up small and medium-size businesses by enabling broader access to borrowed funds.
Much has to be done yet in the field of tax and customs reforms. The country’s overall competitiveness was said to have been maintained in spite of the fall caused by the ongoing financial and economic downturn.
The meeting was attended by public stakeholders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine, as well as from other such agencies or competitiveness-handling entities of some non-member countries.
