11% economic growth expected in Armenia according to preliminary calculations, President says in Bulgaria

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. In conditions of the difficult situation for the economy of Armenia, 11% economic growth is expected in the country by the end of this year according to preliminary calculations, President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan said while delivering a lecture at the Sofia UniversitySt. Kliment Ohridski entitled “Economy of Armenia: Facing the Universal and Regional Challenges”.

The President said that the movement of a large number of foreign companies to Armenia, the inflow of foreign labor force was an additional boost to the country’s economic growth.

The President also talked about the decline that Armenia’s economy faced in different times, particularly reminding the 2009 financial crisis which also affected Armenia. Then, he touched upon the economic decline of 2016 which was conditioned by sanctions against Russia. Vahagn Khachaturyan said the economy of Armenia is very deeply integrated into the Russian economy. Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) since 2013. However, the President said that Armenia is also very actively cooperating with the European Union, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into force last year. “We are able to use the cooperation with the EU, in line with it we have a 170 million [population] EAEU which we can use. Moreover, the representatives of Bulgarian business could use this advantage by using Armenia’s territory”, the President said.

The next economic decline in Armenia was registered in 2020 connected by both the coronavirus and the war. But it 2021, an economic growth was again registered in the country.

“There is going to be an unprecedented economic growth this year, 11% according to preliminary calculations. I think in conditions of today’s global economic crisis, registering such an economic growth is quite interesting, needs to be studied by specialists, but Armenia managed to do that”, he said.

Speaking about the factors contributing to this high economic growth, the President said that following the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the inflow of labor force from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to Armenia has greatly increased. And this inflow was mainly ensured by high-quality IT specialists. “And given Armenia’s economic, especially tax policy, around 70 companies were registered in Armenia. And the government of Armenia has responded to the needs of these companies very quickly. And the favorable conditions attracted the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian high-tech, IT representatives so that they establish companies in Armenia. And this is an additional impetus for us. We still continue paying special focus to this sector, to the foreign companies which have already become Armenian companies because officially they are no longer the companies they were”, he said.

The President also said that the number of tourists visiting Armenia has significantly increased, reaching 589,000 in the first half of this year. The export volume of goods to Russia has also greatly increased. He said that the remittances this year comprise around the 18% of the GDP compared to the 10-12% in the past.

Why is Armenia attractive, the President said because of good regulations, affordability and freedom. Registering a business in Armenia takes a day, even hours, as it is happening online, and there is also no problem with the opening of a bank account.