YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Only in the last one month, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan made two visits to Lori province, where he participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of the factories which are being built by an Iranian company, and then held several consultations with the officials of the province.

ARMENPRESS had an interview with Lori Governor Arthur Nalbandian about the planned projects of the province.

• Nalbandian, which sectors in your opinion are the most promising in the province?
• In order to give an answer, one must take into account the province’s specifications – geographical location, climate conditions, and several peculiarities of the 8 urban and 99 rural communities of the province. The province is industrial in nature. As a leading industrial branch, the mining sector can be pointed out. Overall, the mining industry volume grew nearly 9.3 times in 2016 against 2011, which is mainly due to the operation of Teghut CJSC. Sagamar, ACP, and other companies are also engaged in mining in the province.

Light industry, machine building and wood processing industries also recorded growth in volumes in last year”, the governor said, adding that agriculture, IT and tourism development is also under the spotlight.

“We have great expectations particularly for the development of IT, the prerequisites of which exist, and we are sure that it will become one of the main cornerstones of economic development of the province”, he said.

Back in 2014, the Vanadzor Technological Center was established at the initiative of the Government and with nearly 6 million dollar funding from the World Bank.

Since 2015, Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) is carrying out works for creating a Smart Center, and the construction works are planned to be completed in the beginning of 2018.

“In 2017 we declared Lori a “Smart Province”. The launch of this initiative began by creating “Smart” classrooms in 13 public schools of different communities”, the governor said, adding that the initiative is being expanded.

He also said that personally the President of Armenia has supported the idea of creating a Tumo Center in the province.

The governor said that they also find tourism to be a promising branch for development.

Speaking on the PM’s visits to the province, the governor said that Karen Karapetyan is interested in ensuring an attractive business and investment environment for the province. “With his direct participation in the province and namely in Vanadzor, I won’t avoid this word, an investment boom is expected soon”, he said.

Serious investments are being made especially in the road construction sector, with the largest investment program being worth 102 million Euros – the construction of the Vanadzor-Alaverdi-Georgian border highway.

Major investments are also being made in the healthcare, education, culture and other sectors as well.

The governor also mentioned the investments of the Iranian Rad Sane Vashamir Group LLC, with total investments estimated at 130 million USD, and 2000 new jobs.

The full interview is available in Armenian.