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July 8, 2004 National Citizens’ Initiative Determines Trends of Armenian Economic Growth Yerevan—The National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI) today convened a specialized policy roundtable on “The Trends of Economic Growth in Armenia.” The discussion, focusing on the challenges of this vital issue of public concern, brought together government officials, academic circles, experts of the field, public figures, and the media community to define the priorities and development opportunities in the economic sphere, to make realistic assessments of the current state of affairs, and to address the imperative of a true struggle against corruption and the shadow economy. Karapet Kalenchian, director of administration of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), greeted the audience with opening remarks. He stressed the significance of economic reforms and pointed to several mechanisms for achieving the objective. “In order to settle a number of issues of strategic importance, in particular strengthening the new independent state system and improving the living standards of the population, we need to create prerequisites for the proportional development of modern industry, the agricultural sector and other fields of the economy, to improve tax policy, and to provide sustained economic growth so that every Armenian family really enjoys its benefits,” Kalenchian said.
Gagik Vardanian, the Republic’s deputy minister for trade and economic development, addressed “The Strategic Directions of Armenia’s Economic Development in Light of the Global Information Revolution,” detailing key issues of efficiency and productivity in the Armenian economy. In his opinion, information technologies provide great access and thus facilitate quick orientation in the market as well as application of state-of-the-art networks and electronic equipment, all of which lead to sustained progress in the economy. “Given their efficiency in all spheres of life, the Armenian government attaches primary importance to ITs. It has worked out a development concept and a program of activities to face the challenges of the world market,” he noted. “The government of Armenia has adopted strategic programs for the country’s sustainable regional economic development in order to play an active role in integrating into the global information field.” Gagik Makarian, director of the “Haiconsult” firm, delivered
an illustrated paper on “The Key Obstacles to Armenia’s Economic
Growth and the Ways to Overcome Them.” “It is senseless to
speak of sustained economic growth unless we struggle against corruption
and the shadow economy, make a due assessment of the operational branches
of industry, provide mechanisms for an attractive investment climate,
make export volumes predictable, and draft appropriate tax and customs
legislation,” Makarian opined. According to him, there are about
20 negative factors that impede economic growth in Armenia in view of
the relevant transportation expenses, unfair and unequal competition,
poor marketing experience, the political situation in the country, and
a number of other circumstances.
Yerevan State University economics professor Gagik Galstian entitled his presentation “The Anatomy of Armenian Economic Growth.” “Economic growth is not an end unto itself.” he said. “If there is growth there should be prosperity, whereas the living standard of the population as measured by substantive food intake per capita has been reduced twice over the last decade.” An analysis of the data from 2003 brought Galstian to a pessimistic conclusion: Armenia’s living standard is today on par with that of 1977 in terms of its Gross Domestic Product, with 1980 in terms of its industrial productivity, and with 1956 in terms of its cargo transportation and residential construction. Thus, society is lagging behind by more than 25 years. The formal interventions were followed by exchanges of views and policy recommendations among the public figures and policy specialists in attendance. Noteworthy were contributions by MP Shavarsh Kocharian of the National Democratic Party; former minister of state Hrach Hakobian; economist Edward Aghajanov; Artak Zeinalian of the Republic Party; Stepan Mantarlian of Armaveni consulting company; Alexander Butaev of National Democratic Union; Petros Makeyan of the Democratic Fatherland Party; Ruzanna Khachaturian of the People’s Party of Armenia; law professor Hrair Tovmasian; and many others.
ACNIS analyst Hovsep Khurshudian closed the meeting with summary remarks. “Unfortunately, it is difficult to conclude the seminar on an optimistic note regarding Armenia’s economic growth,” he said, underlining that economic growth remains erratic, illusory, and narrow-based despite government assurances. “Moreover, the authorities have demonstrated little or no political will to struggle against corruption, as they are mired in the very clan system which impedes competition.”
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