TSAGHKADZOR. – Not having a large economy, Armenia is positively condemned to having an export-oriented economy, Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan stated Saturday during the Bridge Business Forum, which kicked off in Tsaghkadzor city. 

He noted that the global economic picture is favorable for this. “Nearly fifty-percent of our export is directed to the European market, hence the situation there is important for us,” he argued.  

With respect to the situation in Armenia, the Minister informed that the country’s 2011 industrial production surpassed one-trillion drams (approx. US$ 2,583,899,175) and reached 20-21 percent of the GDP. Also in the year past, Armenia’s economic activity index grew by 5.9 percent, and the volume of industrial production increased by 14.1 percent and made up close to $2.66 billion. “Last year’s economic growth is encouraging. It is just as important that it is based primarily on the development of the real sector, specifically the industry,” Tigran Davtyan stated, adding that this is conditioned on the economic diversification.        

As per Davtyan, the Government-approved export-oriented strategy of Armenia’s economy could become a basis for stimulating business. “It specifies our turn toward production and real sector. Armenia must become a producing and an exporting country. Today’s investment programs, legislative reforms, and new products are the examples for the cooperation [between] the state and the real sector,” the Minister said.