Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today received representatives of companies involved in textile industry. To begin with, the Prime Minister noted that the goal of the meeting is to identify the problems encountered in this area amid the current crisis and explore ways of dealing with them. “We will discuss the whole range of such assistance tools as may help us curb the crisis and return to the development path,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan reported that 90% of domestic textile output is being exported and even the market demand has not declined even against the backdrop of the global crisis. Textile industry reported 22% growth in the first quarter of this year, followed by a 15% decline in the second quarter, which was mainly due to the COVID-19-related business restrictions.

Adverse logistic conditions were cited as a major impediment to exports. This in turn prevents textile companies from hiring new personnel and organizing professional trainings. The guests touched upon other factors that could contribute to the development and progress of the sector. In this context, they discussed possibilities and mechanisms for state assistance in terms of job creation, training and refurbishment. Issues related to the simplification of export and import procedures were raised during the meeting.

Prime Minister Pashinyan instructed the officials in charge to continue the discussion with the private sector for another week and submit a draft decision on assistance toolkits. The Premier urged the private sector representatives to strictly abide by the prescribed safety rules in order to avoid new outbreaks.