EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICANEWS RELEASE
1 AMERICAN AVENUE
YEREVAN, ARMENIA
TELEPHONE (+374 10) 464700
FAX (+374 10) 464742
E-MAIL: [email protected]
September 29, 2006
ARMENIA AND U.S. FORMALLY INAUGURATE $235 MILLION RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
On September 29, 2006, the five year Millennium Challenge anti-poverty
development program agreed to earlier this year by the United States and
Armenia was officially inaugurated with an exchange of letters. In a
ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Finance Minister
Vardan Khachatryan and Alex Russin of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
exchanged letters which formally inaugurate the $235 million anti-poverty
program.
The Armenian Compact is designed to reduce rural poverty through a
sustainable increase in the economic performance of the agricultural sector.
Armenia plans to achieve this goal through a five-year program of strategic
investments in rural roads, irrigation infrastructure and technical and
financial assistance to improve the supply of water and to support farmers
and agribusinesses. The Program will directly impact approximately 750,000
people, or an estimated 75 percent of the rural population, and is expected
to reduce the rural poverty rate and boost annual incomes.
The Compact includes a $67 million project to rehabilitate up to 943
kilometers of rural roads, more than a third of Armenia’s proposed Lifeline
road network. When complete, the Lifeline road network will ensure that
every rural community has road access to markets, services, and the main
road network. Under the Compact, the Government of Armenia will be required
to commit additional resources for maintenance of the road network. The
Compact also includes a $146 million project to increase the productivity of
approximately 250,000 farm households (34% of which are headed by women)
through improved water supply, higher yields, higher-value crops, and a more
competitive agricultural sector.
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation
designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is based
on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good
governance, economic freedom, and investments in people that promote
economic growth and elimination of extreme poverty.
