ACCORDING TO CAPS STUDY, ARMENIA MAY BE COMPETITIVE IN SPHERE OF
ENGINEERING SERVICES PROVISION

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Scientists working in Armenia’s
industrial engineering sector have enough experience to be used in the
domestic industry. Chairman of the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen of Armenia Arsen Ghazarian stated this at the March 26
seminar "Innovation Technologies in Industrial Sector of Armenia"
organized by the Enterprise Incubator Founaftion (EIF) jointly with
its US partner – the Civilian Research and Development Foundation
(CRDF). According to EIF Director Bagrat Yengibarian, it is one year
since they started implementing with CRDF a joint program on
establishment of links between the science and industry of
Armenia. Within the program’s framework, an attempt is made to form
tradition of holding venture and innovation conferences.

B. Yengibarian expressed a hope that the seminar will help so that
business proposals to be presented by "scientific group-enterprise"
couples within the next two months will allow to hold the 2nd venture
conference in October 2007. Cliff Barton, expert of the USAID
Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) program assisting with
development of Armenia’s IT and tourism sectors, presented the study
"The Opportunities of Armenian Companies’s Participation in the
Globally Extending Market of Engineering Design Services". According
to the study, in 2004, current expenditures on engineering services
made 750 billion dollars, in 2020, these expenditures will make 1.1
trillion dollars. It was noted that Armenia has managed to maintain
its powerful capacities in the fields of sceintific technical
education, research and development. At the same time, according to
the study, "the current success in chip design and electronic
infrastructure sectors shows once again that Armenia can still be
competitive in the world’s engineering service provision sector."
During the seminar, representatives of several Armenian companies
engaged in various sectors of engineering design presented their
experience.