‘THE MICROSOFT INNOVATION DAY’ HELD IN YEREVAN

Arminfo
2007-04-10 14:50:00

Today the Microsoft Corporation held a conference "The Microsoft
Innovation Day" in Yerevan with participation of representatives of
ministries, departments and private enterprises.

The Armenian Minister of Trade and Economic Development, Karen
Chshmaritian, thanked the Microsoft representatives for their attention
paid to Armenia and investments made in the innovation system of
Armenia. K.Chshmaritian noted that this conference is the first step
within the framework of the conception signed between the Armenian
Government and Microsoft. He added that at the moment the country
needs the innovation culture of Microsoft. K.Chshmaritian thinks
that spreading of this culture in Armenia may be of a prospective
significance for both the country’s economy and the society in
general. The minister pointed out that the Armenian Government
attaches much importance to the scientific and educational system and
its infrastructures. At the same time he emphasized that it is the
innovation system that can ensure the society’s self-education, as the
system consists of various institutions affecting the primary source of
the population’s knowledge. According to the minister, the guarantor
of the stable development of the country is the knowledge which can
be neither taken away nor restricted. "Later the knowledge-based
economy of Armenia may have its deserved place on a global scale,"
K.Chshmarityan said. To implement this task, the government of the
country has taken a number of steps, including the approval of the
conception on assisting IT which implies state assistance to those
programs which directly connect knowledge with economy. "I’d like this
conference to have an applied relevance to the economy of Armenia,"
he said.

In his turn, the head of the Microsoft-Armenia, Grigor Barseghyan,
noted that the Corporation annually makes investments worth billions
in the formation of new portfolios of services and development of
innovation technologies.

According to him, these portfolios grow with every passing year. "The
role of innovation technologies is of special significance for
developing Armenia," G.Barseghyan said. At the same time, he pointed
out that the key goal of the conference is to present and discuss
the role of application of innovation and progressive technologies
for the development of both Armenian and international economies,
as well as the impact of innovations on the rise of competitiveness
of the country, and the importance of innovations as a stimulus of
establishment of a science-intensive economy. "The conference will
also give an opportunity to the participants to establish multilateral
cooperation to raise the competitiveness of Armenia," he said.