NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS IN ARMENIA TO REACH 70% IN FIVE YEARS
Gita Elibekyan

"Radiolur"
02.04.2009 15:28

A two-day conference on "Promoting Regional Cooperation through
Information Technologies" licked off in Yerevan today. The forum has
been organized within the framework of Armenia’s presidency of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. Representatives of filed
of information and telecommunication from Armenia, Russia, Ukraine,
Georgia and Turkey participate in the forum.

Deputy Minister of Energy Vahe Danielyan said in his opening speech
that the main objective of the forum is to expand the existing
cooperation and establish new ties with representatives of the IT
sphere of the participating states, boost the development of the
innovation field and the existing technological progress. "The Armenian
Government views this sphere as the main target of development. It
is the most popular sphere all over the world. In the future we see
Armenia as an e-society and we do believe that our country could be a
big "laboratory" in this field," the Deputy Minister of Economy noted.

Participants of the forum consider that development is the only
way to resist the global economic crisis. Specialists stated that
the influence of the crisis on the IT sphere can already be felt,
and it may reach the peak by the end of the year.

Armenia also considers that the development of=2 0the IT sphere is eh
only option for mitigating the consequences of the global crisis. Our
country has declared Information Technologies as a priority.

One of these days the World Economic Forum released the Global IT
Development Report, where the countries were ranked, according to
the level of development of the Information Technologies.

The report included 134 countries, and Armenia ranked only
114th. Director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation Bagrat
Yengibaryan said, however, that the researchers used the data of
2003-2004. Besides, out cell operators do not provide data on how
many people use cell phones.

Speaking one of the branches of the field, the Internet, Bagrat
Yengibaryan said only 25% of our populations uses Internet, but the
number is expected to reach 70% within the coming five years.

Head of Public Relations Department of the Turkish Broadcasting
Authorities Hamid Hersoy said 60% of population in Turkey has Internet
access. "The fee for Internet is gradually decreasing. There is tense
competition in Turkey. Internet is very popular in our country,"
he said.

Regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations, Hersoy said he is one of
the Turkish citizens who shows with his visit to Armenia that that
his nation is "ready for dialogue." "Turkey has good relations with
all neighbors and I think that Armenia will become one of them very
soon," Hersoy said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress