23 ARMENIAN COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS JOIN UN GLOBAL AGREEMENT

Noyan Tapan
Feb 28 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The main issues of the February 27
discussion "What is Corporate Social Responsibility and What is Done in
Armenia in this Respect" were: what is corporate social responsibility,
what approach does the government take to it? etc. In the words of the
RA Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtian,
the idea of corporate social responsibility is a new one in Armenia
and so difficult to comprehend. However, it is time for the private
sector to engage in solution of social problems together with the
state. "More than 80% of the economy is private, almost 90% of GDP
is created in the private sector. So the private sector should also
participate in solution of social problems," the deputy minister
noted. In his opinion, there is no need to establish a body for
introduction of this system in Armenia. "The existing governance
systems are sufficient," he said.

According to RA Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Issues Artsvik
Minasian, economic entities should be involved in solution of such
social problems, as unemployment, issues of the disabled, etc.

It was noted that since 2006, the UN Global Agreement Office has
functioned in Armenia with the aim of promoting corporate social
governance. Among the principles of the UN Global Agreement are
defence of human rights, elimination of all types of forced labor,
etc. 23 Armenian companies and organizations have joined the Global
Agreement, including Ashtarak Kat company, Tufenkian hotel network,
Coca Cola and others.