Armenian National Committee of America
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PRESS RELEASE
January 5, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ARMENIA SCORES HIGHEST AMONG CIS ON ECONOMIC FREEDOM INDEX

— Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Give Armenia their
Highest Rating in the Commonwealth of Independent States

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
in letters sent today to Members of Congress, Administration
officials, think tanks, the media, and the broader Washington, DC
foreign policy community, welcomed Armenia’s high rating from the
Index of Economic Freedom, prepared jointly by the Heritage
Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

The Index measures 161 countries against 50 variables divided into
10 factors of economic freedom. Armenia received a 2.58 rating and
was ranked 42nd overall – ahead of both France and South Korea.
Armenia’s scores places it, by a considerable margin, as the
highest scoring nation among the Commonwealth of Independent
States. Within the Caucasus, Armenia was listed as the only
“Mostly Free” nation. Georgia ranked 100th overall with a score of
3.34, and Azerbaijan came in at 103rd with a score of 3.38. Turkey
continued to slip on economic freedoms, coming in with a score of
3.36 and a ranking of 112th overall. Lower scores on the Index’s
five-point scale are more desirable.

“Armenia’s strong economic growth and steady progress in each of
the ten areas weighed by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall
Street Journal are reflected in the expansion of U.S.-Armenia
economic relations,” said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. “We look
forward to helping further expand these commercial ties and to
building on the passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations
legislation – spearheaded last year by Congressman Joe Knollenberg
and Senator Mitch McConnell – by ending double-taxation, securing a
Social Security Agreement, and paving the way toward free trade
between the United States and Armenia.”

Armenia’s ratings in each of the ten factors covered by the Index
are provided below (Lower scores are more desirable):

Trade: 2.0
Fiscal Burden: 2.3
Gov. Intervention: 2.5
Monetary Policy: 2.0
For. Investment: 2.0
Banking: 1.0
Wages & Prices: 3.0
Property Rights: 3.0
Regulation: 4.0
Informal Market: 4.0

According to the Index, Armenia has made steady progress on
economic freedom over the past decade. Below find Armenia’s past
scores:

2005: 2.58
2004: 2.63
2003: 2.59
2002: 2.78
2001: 3.03
2000: 3.21
1999: 3.50
1998: 3.50
1997: 3.50
1996: 3.69

For additional information about the Heritage Foundation/Wall
Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom, now in its 11th year,
visit: