LACK OF PUBLIC AWARENESS IN ARMENIA?

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[04:50 pm] 09 December, 2008

The Informational Technologies (IT) sector in Armenia is rather
vulnerable and there is not much room for development.

There are more than 80 IT companies in Armenia and they mainly export
their products. According to head of "Synergy International Systems"
Ashot Hovhannisyan, investments in the IT market are mainly from
abroad and products are generally exported.

Hovhannisyan set aside a couple of current issues in the IT sector
that require solutions and the most important one is the fact that
Armenia is not competitive compared to other countries.

For example, in countries like India the work force is comparably
cheap and that is why the IT sector moves forward. Other issues
connected to Internet connection and the lack of resources.

According to head of the Center for Management Technologies of Yerevan
Khazhak Karayan, several tax privileges and creation of free trade
zones may promote the IT sector. Karayan believes that the IT sector
needs government support, especially in terms of cooperation with
financial institutions. Getting funds from financial institutions
has been rather difficult to date because the evaluation mechanism
in Armenia is underdeveloped.

"That is a major issue today because the evaluations given by the
local financial institutions are an important standard for foreign
investors. I advise the government to allow exclusions for IT companies
when it comes time for project implementation," says Karayan.

Representative of the "X Tech" creative studio Arman Atoyan says that
the IT market in Armenia is underdeveloped due to lack of public
awareness. The latter would cause demand for WEB technologies and
program deals. Atoyan added that the "Armenian Youth Association for
Development of Information Society" has been founded with the purpose
of starting processes that will show people what IT is capable of.

"I think that it is very important to show the world a product that is
"Made in Armenia". Let’s start with the development of that brand,"
said Atoyan