ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES READY TO SUPPORT PRIVATE SECTOR TO DEVELOP IT SECTOR

ARKA
May 14, 2008

YEREVAN, May 14. /ARKA/. Armenian authorities are ready to support
any initiative of the private sector to develop the IT sector, RA
Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan stated.

"The government is ready to stimulate the sector’s development by
all means.

But it is the private sector that should take the initiative,"
the minister said at a conference entitled "Competitiveness and
Innovations of Information Technologies".

The minister said Armenian government has set itself quite an
ambitious goal – to complete the country’s transformation in the
shortest terms and reduce the technological gap between Armenia and
developed countries.

A number of projects will be implemented within the program –
foundation of an industrial park, holding an "IT-month" on Armenia’s
potential of becoming an information centre, implementation of
"Computer for Everyone" Program, as well as introduction of
"Interactive Education", Yeritsyan said.

According to the minister, these pilot projects will become a good
start for cooperation with the private sector.

The two-day conference has been organized by USAID CAPS (Competitive
Armenian Private Sector) Program, RA Ministry of Economy, Microsoft
Armenia Office, and the Enterprise Incubator Foundation. The
participants will focus on such issues as development of IT clusters,
IT development national concept, and government’s support for IT
development.