PM Pashinyan receives a group of Ukrainian-Armenian businessmen

• 11.17.2022, 20:29
•  Europe,  World,  Armenia,  Diaspora

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received a group of Ukrainian-Armenian businessmen. Deputy Prime Ministers Mher Grigoryan, Hambardzum Matevosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Director General of the Investment Support Center Levon Ohanesyan, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Ukraine Vladimir Karapetyan participated in the meeting.

Welcoming the attendees, the Prime Minister expressed hope that as a result of today's discussion, the presence of businessmen in the Republic of Armenia will become more practical. "You probably know that, fortunately, unprecedentedly high economic results were recorded in Armenia this year, but that does not mean that we do not have any problems. The most important problem of our economy is what we have talked about several times. Today, unfortunately, we are not able to fully implement our capital expenditure plans for a simple reason: the capabilities of the private sector in Armenia are not developed enough for them to be able, so to speak, to realize all the potential that we offer. I am talking about the construction of roads, schools, kindergartens, other state facilities, and I would like to draw your attention to this fact.

The next thing is that I think that we are in a very complicated geopolitical and international situation, the whole world, and as we see, we have threats and challenges there, but on the other hand we also have opportunities, including investment opportunities. I would like to draw your attention to that fact. And which directions are more promising and interesting for you, perhaps you can decide better.

I can present just one fact, which you may have heard about, that the Republic of Armenia ranks 11th in the world in the World Index of Economic Freedom published just two months ago, which means that among 165 countries in the world, Armenia ranks 11th in terms of freedom of investment and economic activity. What does this mean? This means that there are no bans or restrictions on economic activity in Armenia, this means that no one is forbidden to export or import anything, and of course, the bans or restrictions apply only to what applies to everyone. I mean certain legal regulations and so on. Of course, in the case of Armenia, there are also certain logistical complications, but everyone faces difficulties and there is no alternative approach here at all," Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister informed that the Investment Support Center operates under the Ministry of Economy, the main task of which is to provide support to businessmen and entrepreneurs who are interested in investing in Armenia. "And we are ready to listen to your opinions, impressions, maybe also about some obstacles or difficulties you have faced in Armenia. Of course, it will be interesting to know about such cases and in all cases, if we see that solutions are possible, we will find solutions. There may also be objective difficulties, the solution of which is not realistic, but in any case, having complete information is very important for us to take into account in our further activities," said Nikol Pashinyan.

Then the Prime Minister and other members of the government participating in the meeting answered the questions of the businessmen, which referred to the reforms being implemented in the direction of creating a favorable environment for business, etc.

The Prime Minister instructed the heads of the concerned departments to be in constant contact with the businessmen and provide assistance for the effective implementation of the programs within the framework of the government's tools.