Friday, 29 November 2013
Government To Shift Focus Toward Training IT Specialists
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan attended today the opening of a business innovation forum in Dilijan.
Welcoming the participants, Tigran Sargsyan expressed hope that the forum will promote the development of information technologies: “This platform will provide an opportunity to discuss new ideas, understand how things are going in the IT sector worldwide, find directions of Armenia’s development, as well as to introduce a variety of innovative technologies as quickly as possible. We must expose those barriers preventing us to apply innovative technologies and engage in dialog to better understand our joint objectives.”
According to Tigran Sargsyan, the IT sector in Armenia provides five percent of GDP, which is comparable to that of the mining industry: there are some 7,000 highly-skilled professionals employed in the sphere. Capacity building was said to be the main driving force for new jobs. The head of government noted that the new jobs will ensure the country’s progress.
Stressing that 28 percent growth was recorded in Armenia at the beginning of the global economic crisis, Tigran Sargsyan stated in part, “We need to understand on the long term that new jobs will emerge in those areas affiliated to the IT sector, which poses serious challenges primarily in terms of specialist training. The IT sector calls for 2,000 professionals trained annually. The market demand will go up in the future. This means that the State universities should consider a drastic change in their student planning policy. We will significantly reduce the amount of State order funding for law and economic faculties to the benefit of IT sector specialties. Thus, the State budget resources will be funneled toward the training of highly qualified IT specialists.”
In the Prime Ministers words, Armenia has made progress in the direction of international specialization in the IT sector. In particular, our country has achieved competitive edge in the international division of labor. According to data provided by Mentor Graphics Armenia, our country provides five percent of global output of chips: “This is an excellent result, which means that we have a comparative advantage in this area. Therefore, we must build on it through greater focus on this area.”
According to the head of government, the increased share of information technology in the global economy has led to dramatic changes in specialization: the world has entered a new stage of division of labor based on unified technology platforms, which dictate development prospects in successful industries.
“They change the trends of economic development: many specialties are becoming obsolete, while others are proving extremely popular. While unemployment is the number one challenge in the EU, there are millions of vacancies the IT sector. New technologies are changing both lifestyle and economy foundations. The global economic crisis is believed to come to an end as soon as a new technology platform is shaped in Europe.” Tigran Sargsyan said. In this context, the Premier noted that the competition has moved into the IT sphere since latter is the growth locomotive for all the other industries. Those areas lagging behind lose their competitive advantage. At the same time, the IT-fostered increase in productivity can bring about job losses.
“Today’s most fundamental problem is that economic growth does not lead to increase in new jobs. New highly performing machines are being introduced in various areas. This problem involves fundamental changes in economic policy. The Government sets itself the task of reconsidering the understanding of economic growth, because revolutionary changes are taking place in the IT sphere that affect industries,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
The three-day forum was attended by about 120 representatives of the high-tech and other sectors interested in the technological changes. The forum will focus on technological solutions for industry, energy, water management and mining industry, trends and opportunities for the development of e-commerce.
Touching on the introduction of the new funded pension system in a briefing held with Armenian news reporters, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that it had been developed for about ten years with the help of the best experts and with numerous discussions. “We have taken into account our opponents’ views in drafting the concept. We want to go forward in accordance with the laws adopted by the National Assembly. We are determined to bring the reform to a logical conclusion,” Tigran Sargsyan said.
The head of government reminded that people seemed to be dissatisfied with the introduction the CTP, but only six months after introduction society felt its effectiveness.
