TATUL MARGARIAN: ARMENIA ENJOYS EXCELLENT RELATIONS WITH U.S.

PanArmenian News Network
July 18 2005

18.07.2005 07:20

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A. Armenia enjoys excellent relations with the
United States, which are deeply rooted in our shared values and
principles, Armenian Ambassador to the US Tatul Margarian when asked
by Armenpress news agency to comment on the current status of
U.S.-Armenian relations. “Our task is to further enhance the already
high level of cooperation and partnership with the United States to
the mutual benefit of our nations and in order to meet the challenges
that the international community now faces. Since the restoration of
its independence in 1991, Armenia has had many achievements in
building democratic institutions and civil society, a representative
form of government, and a free-market economy. We appreciate greatly
the enormous political, moral, and humanitarian support that the
United States has extended under the Freedom Support Act, and which
helped Armenia to sustain an independent statehood and implement
democratic, legal, and economic reforms. The many institutionalized
meetings and consultations between the Governments of our countries,
such as U.S.-Armenia Economic Task Force, U.S.-Armenia Strategic
Dialog, Bilateral Defense Consultations, provide a framework for
dialog on bilateral political, security, and economic cooperation.
Bilateral visits play an important role, and this year we have
already had a visit by the Foreign Minister, and the Prime Minister,
the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly, and the Defense
Minister will visit later this year. U.S.-Armenia Task Force and
U.S.-Armenia strategic dialog meetings will be conducted in
Washington later this year”, he said. As for the level of the
Armenian-American economic cooperation, T. Margarian noted that since
1992, the level and scope of U.S. assistance programs have changed
from providing humanitarian assistance to mostly focusing on economic
development and democratic and legal reforms, reflecting the
significant progress made by Armenia in these areas. “Armenia’s
economy is now more efficient, diversified, than those of its
neighbors. According to Wall Street Journal and the Heritage
Foundation, Armenia ranks higher in index of economic freedom than
any other country in Eurasia and most of Eastern Europe. Armenia’s
inclusion as a potential recipient of the Millennium Challenge
Account funds is a testimony to Armenia’s ability to rule justly,
promote economic freedom, and invest in people. The MCA funds and
continued U.S. assistance to Armenia will advance the objectives of
poverty reduction and promotion of economic growth, thus helping to
unleash the creative potential of the Armenian people. The
appropriate Congressional subcommittees have already voted to markup
assistance to Armenia at the same level in 2006 as it was this year.
Equally important was maintaining parity in Congressional allocation
of military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan. Also, U.S. will
continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh. The
United States is among Armenia’s top five trading partners, and over
the last 5 years, the exports of Armenian products to the United
States have grown significantly. Earlier in 2005, Armenia was granted
the Permanent Normal Trade Relations regime by the United States. At
the same time, the level of U.S. investments in Armenia is not high
compared with the existing potential. Therefore, promotion of trade
and investment will be an important priority. Most U.S. investment to
Armenia went into Armenia’s hospitality and IT industries,
particularly software manufacturing. Most of Armenia’s software
companies are geared towards the U.S. markets. Many hotels in Armenia
are now operated by Armenian-American investors, and this has helped
raise the standards and promote competition in this important
industry. There are also numerous small- and medium-scale
Armenian-American entrepreneurs who own businesses in Armenia, or
engage in export and import operations. Nevertheless, the prevailing
model for U.S. investment in Armenia has been foreign direct
investments, or personal involvement of the entrepreneur or manager.
During my meetings many express willingness to take advantage of the
economic opportunities in Armenia, but the main limitation is that
potential investors are unable, due to lack of time or career
considerations, to move to Armenia to personally run their
businesses. Therefore, in order to attract more American investment
to Armenia, there is a need for new mechanisms, vehicles such as
venture capital funds, investment companies, etc.”, he said,
Armenpess reports.