Privileged status for competitive technologies
By Mher Ohanian

Yerkir/arm
10 June 05

The developments of the 21st century show that high technologies
and knowledge-based economies emerge as crucial elements of the
geopolitical status or state security systems of leading countries.

This fact should determine the development direction of transition
countries including Armenia. Otherwise, the implemented reforms might
still result in the county’s being uncompetitive internationally.

The dictate of integration

The experts refer to this situation as the “vicious circle of poverty”
when the seemingly efficient reforms take the country back to its
starting point – poverty. In order to avoid a situation like this,
the political, business and intellectual elites of the country should
comply their activities with the dictate of continuous modernization
of the country’s economic and political systems. In this context,
measures directed at establishment of a competitive economy based on
high technologies are of crucial importance.

A couple of decades ago high technologies were merely indispensable
components of industrial infrastructures. Meanwhile today high
technologies emerge as indispensable factors in the military-political,
economic and social development of countries. At the same time, the
development of high technologies cannot be limited by national borders.

This is why the companies from countries aspiring to preserve their
competitiveness have to cooperate with the leading transnational
companies. In this way the national economies are gradually integrated
into the globalized world economy.

What is our potential?

The Soviet Armenia’s industrial sector had no problems with receiving
industrial resources and more or less modern technologies from the
Union center. This was how the country’s economy was modernized in the
Soviet period. Armenia was a leader among the Soviet republics in terms
of modern technologies. In mid 1980’s the volume of high-tech industry
production in Soviet Armenia amounted to 1.5 billion rubles. More
than 60 thousands scientists, engineers, experimenters and highly
qualified workers were employed in the country’s high-tech industry.

Scientific-production unions were the main mode of integration of
science, technologies and production processes. However, it should be
noted that the high-tech industries were mainly producing intermediary
production; there was no cooperation between such industries within
the Soviet republics.

This was the logic of the Soviet centralized economy. This is why after
the collapse of the Soviet Union the high-tech sector of Armenia’s
economy was paralyzed, the highly qualified scientists and engineers
employed in high-tech industries were dismissed and many of them left
the country.