Saturday, 28 August 2010
National Competitiveness Fund Board of Trustees 17th session kicked off
Armenia’s National Competitiveness Fund (ANCF) Board of Trustees met today at the Office of Government, chaired by Board Chairman, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. To begin with, the meeting discussed and approved the minutes of ANCF previous sitting.
The head of government briefed those present on economic development trends in Armenia. Concerning the 4% economic growth of the past 7 months, the Prime Minister noted that the growth indicators were influenced by the sharp fall in agriculture. Instead, the other sectors of economy were on the upgrade. Industry boasted a 11.4% growth. Some About 20% growth was recorded in mining industry, fabrication of building materials, metallurgy, jewelry, machine-tool construction, instrument making and chemistry. Services were up by 6.1%. According to the head of government, this means that “the GDP breakdown has been undergoing serious changes. Services and industry are on the upgrade which has a positive impact on revenue collection. The taxes-GDP ratio has improved against the same period of 2009.”
Unemployment is declining amid increasing wages in both the private and public sectors. Presenting the fiscal receipts for the first seven months of 2010, Tigran Sargsyan said they had proved above the target and, therefore, it would be possible to maintain macroeconomic stability and lower the budget deficit-GDP ratio. Inflation was said to be a serious challenge for our economy.
Summing up his statement, the Prime Minister briefed the meeting on global economic trends while answering BOT members’ questions.
The session is expected to discuss the proposal on the southern axis of tourism, a project developed by the educational commission, the ANCF running program report concerning the Tatev Revival project, in particular. The agenda similarly features a large-scale survey of strategic areas for boosting national competitiveness.
In conclusion, the Board will discuss a number of organizational issues, including the time and venue of the next session.
