ACCORDING TO NERSES YERITSIAN, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY TO BE
AIMED AT TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. By the 2008 draft state budget, 1 bln
104.3 mln drams (about 3.4 mln USD) will be allocated for trade and
economic development – against 922.5 mln drams in 2007, the RA deputy
minister of finance and economy Pavel Safarian stated at the November 2
joint sitting of the National Assembly standing committees. 450 mln
drams will be allocated to the program on state assistance to small and
medium business, 250 mln drams – to the tourism development program,
170 mln drams – to the program on making Tsakhkadzor a tourism center
in line with international standards. 100 mln drams will be allocated
to the program on state assistance for development of the IT sector.
According to the RA minister of trade and economic development Nerses
Yeritsian, the indicated programs are aimed at developing private
entrepreneurship with state assistance. The minister pointed out that
state assiastance sums for small and medium business are increasing
year by year: their increase will make 50 mln drams in 2008 as compared
with 2007.
According to the speaker, the main direction now is territorial
development. In his words, henceforth tourism should also become a tool
of territorial development, which will allow to reduce the difference
between the revenues of Yerevan and marzes.
N. Yeritsian said that the program on development of information
technologies will have two directions: establishment of the information
society, which means Internet access for using banking and state
services, and increasing Armenia’s competitiveness in the IT sector.