ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday


Alexander Khachatryan: Armenia has great potential for tourism development

Yerevan October 13

Naira Badalyan. Armenia has great potential for the development of
authentic, gastronomic, in particular, wine tourism, religious,
cultural and ecotourism. "Nevertheless, until the tourproduct is
developed and expectations are determined on it, one can not estimate
the amount of necessary investments, as well as assess the investment
potential of the sphere," October 13 at the final press conference,
responding to the question of ArmInfo, the head of the Center
strategic initiatives Alexander Khachaturyan. According to him, today
the CSI participated in the development of the concept of development
of the resort city of Jermuk. For this, first of all, studies were
carried out of existing programs and ideas, investors willing to
invest. Next, an expert was brought in, who assessed the potential of
the city on the spot. The implementation of the project is currently
estimated at $ 10 million.

The tourist product "Vanadzor as the center of industrial tourism" is
being developed, within the framework of which it is planned to
re-equip the old production buildings for concert halls, hotel
complexes and recreation areas. Next week it is planned to present a
concept for the project.

For the development of cultural tourism, the head of the SRC singled
out the product "Symphony of Stones: Living Ballet in the Open Air" in
Garni, following the example of Petra in Jordan. The product is ready
and the ballet corpse will open the season next year, he noted. It is
also planned to develop a special tourist product for cultural
monuments "Zvartnots", "Amberd" and others. In terms of implementing
special campaigns to promote the Armenian tour product, the head of
the Center noted Let's Armenia promo actions, which took place in
various cities of Russia, as well as the presentation of the Armenian
tourist potential at the international tourist exhibition Leisure
2017. Khachatryan noted that at the Leisure 2017 exhibition, concept -
sold the tourist direction, behind which was a specific tour operator.
Speaking about the results of the work, he indicated 24% growth of
tourism in Armenia. "Even an unprofessional view can be seen progress
in the sphere," Khachatryan said.

At the same time, Khachatryan refrained from calling ArmInfo specific
expectations for investments, both in terms of their volume and
potential investors, since, he said, he only communicates with
investors as an adviser. "The search for an investor is not included
in the functional responsibilities of the Center for Strategic
Initiatives. Our role is to contribute to the development of the
economic agenda of reforms, as well as its formation and
implementation of works that will contribute to the creation of a
favorable investment environment," he said. According to him, he
personally communicated with 5-6 foreign investors, who expressed
interest in the sphere of high technologies, energy and agriculture.

According to Khachatryan, the studies showed that at the moment the
Center has realized that the lack of a legislative basis for
public-private partnership (PPP) also hinders the attraction of
investments. "A number of organizations had a desire to conclude
transactions in PPP, but did not do so because of" bad legislation.
"Based on this, it was decided to develop an appropriate policy, and
only then turn to donors and potential business partners wait for a
quick investment, as the process requires an average of 2-3 years.

Not having received exhaustive answers to their questions, journalists
asked to justify the reasonableness of the Center's activities and the
salary budget of the team of 22 employees. According to Khachatryan,
the budget of the Center is formed as follows: 100 million drams are
directed from the state budget and 33 million from private sources. As
he noted, they did not make a revolution, but only developed a new
model through which the public and private sectors, through
cooperation, implement the agenda of economic reforms in the judicial
system and in the state administration, high technology and tax and
customs administration, education, tourism, rural economy and PPP.
"CSI serves as a platform where private traders together with the
state implement joint projects," he explained.

The Center for Strategic Initiatives is called upon to develop a
long-term strategy for the development of the economy. It operates on
the principles of public-private partnership, and has become a
platform where, with the participation of the private sector, one can
talk about reforms and strategies. The official opening of the Center
took place on January 12, 2017.