US TRADE MISSION READY TO NEGOTIATE TRADE PROGRAMS WITH ARMENIA

ARKA
Oct 13, 2008

YEREVAN, October 13. /ARKA/. At her meeting with RA Premier Tigran
Sargsyan, US Trade Representative, Ambassadress Susan Schwab stated
that the Office of the US Trade Representative is conducting economic
research in Armenia and is ready to begin negotiations over new
business tools for implementing various trade projects.

The RA Premier is on a working visit to Washington, USA, to take
part in an annual forum of the World Bank (WB) and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).

Diana Mnatsakanyan, Press Secretary of the RA Premier, reported that
Ms. Schwab made the statement in answer to the RA Premier’s question
concerning the specific fields intergovernmental agreements can be
signed on for the Armenian-American trade and economic relations to
reach a new level.

Ms. Schwab proposed forming a task group and holding expert
negotiations.

The RA Premier stressed that the IT sector is most interesting, and
various US organizations have made large-scale investments in this
field over the recent years.

The RA Ministry of Economy estimates minimum annual foreign investments
in Armenia’s IT sector at $10mln. About 190 organizations are actively
working in the country’s IT sector.