Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan traveled to Tsakhkadzor to meet with a group of domestic exporters and business people engaged in various sectors of the economy. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, Minister of Economy Tigran Khatchatryan and State Revenue Committee Deputy Chairman Arthur Manoukyan attended the meeting

The Prime Minister noted that the Government stresses the importance of ensuring that the Armenian economy is export oriented. “We want Armenia’s export sectors to grow and be one of the key features of our economy. Supporting the manufacturing industry is one of our key priorities. Of course, we have worked very hard on this and will continue to do so, but this is not an easy task, because when implementing a support program, you need to make sure that support can actually help sectors to develop and become more competitive. We must make sure to provide the kind of support that results in a chain reaction that also contributes to other areas,” Nikol Pashinyan said. The government is organizing meetings in this format in order to understand the signals coming from the stakeholders, to process them and find prompt responses.

With reference to the construction sector, Nikol Pashinyan said the government keen to develop smart formulas in this area. “As we take a look at the real estate market, we can see that we are facing a situation where demand is increasing, while supply remains the same, which leads to higher prices. We need to balance the market with our cooperation in order to strike the right balance between supply and demand, so that there are no shocks in the market,” the Head of Government pointed out.

Economy Minister Tigran Khatchatryan reported that he had held separate meetings with different business people and had revealed their problems and suggestions. The Minister advised that the private sector representatives had submitted about 120 proposals to the Ministry of Economy, which are being discussed at this point of time.

Nikol Pashinyan said in this connection, “Let us see what our objective is. We want you to produce more, export more, make higher profits, pay more taxes, and so on. As we calculate, you must want the same thing, in this case, there is no contradiction between the desires, it is clear that there must be a proper balance in all this. Therefore, you have to work as a team here and it is very important that when we say you, we also hear the sectors and the people working in these areas. It is very important for us to ensure equal conditions for all actors and actors without exception.

Of course, we have taken steps that are supposed to promote this process, but the time has come for you to take full part in the process so that our policies can be organically linked to you. After developing a policy, the government usually hands it over to the private sector and says: You have to work that way, and sometimes we can see the reaction of a foreign body. We want this process to be organic so that decisions are made not only by the government, but also by you, so that these are the rules of the game accepted by all of us, which will also be known to the government and industry representatives. The logic of our work comes down to the same slogan: “Get richer and enrich others.”We must be able to create an institutional mechanism that should not call for new incentives for such cooperation.”

The meeting discussed issues related to the reorganization of the public procurement system, the extension of State Order’s deadlines, as well as possibilities for increasing the export of various products. Reference was also made to the government’s support, promotion-targeted activities, equal market conditions, infrastructure development, market diversification, lending rates, cooperation with banks, etc.

The meeting participants agreed that the officials of the Ministry of Economy should meet with representatives of different sectors within two weeks in order to find objective and specific solutions to existing problems.

Summing up, the Premier stressed that another purpose of these meetings is to help business people realize that the government is eager to see successful producers and increased production volumes. “Because we understand that this helps create new jobs and generate new taxes,” Nikol Pashinyan said and went on to note that industrial facilities and premises have turned into commercial areas in Armenia, and the government hopes they will turn back into industrial sites, and the abandoned production areas will be filled with life again.

“We are open to cooperation, and our main task is to make Armenia stronger economically. Industry is the key to it. By the way, we consider you as our ally and wish you could see an ally in the government,” the Head of Government said.