On the occasion of New Year and Christmas, a reception was hosted for representatives of Armenia’s business community on behalf of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today. Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the businessmen and expressed kind wishes on the occasion of the upcoming holidays.

In his congratulatory remarks, the Prime Minister touched upon the economic results of the year and the expectations from the year 2020. Prime Minister Pashinyan addressed the attendees and particularly stated the following:

“Dear representatives of the business community, members of government, I would like to start our meeting by talking about the economic revolution that I had declared in early 2019. Based on the results of the past 11 months, Armenia has recorded 7.5% economic activity indicator, and if this scenario continues, we will have an over 7% economic growth this year. This is the number one indicator in our region and the Eurasian Economic Union.

I say all this to thank you all for recording these results because governments usually take pride in good economic growth indicators, but the truth is that the indicators are created and shaped by representatives of the business community, and I would like to thank you for setting such a high bar for our country and would like to hope that the recoded successes motivate you more in 2020.

The government also plays a role in forming these indicators. It has a modest, yet important role. The objectives are to ensure lawfulness in the country, ensure equal opportunities and ensure equal relations of state bodies with all businessmen and companies. Unfortunately, I can’t claim that the government has met all of these conditions 100%, but our economic indicators attest to the fact that we have taken certain steps in this regard. I would like to state once again the political will of the Government of Armenia to move forward with confidence.

As I have said in the past, we picture the business community as the one making the economic revolution. This year we take pride in the unprecedented volume of road construction in Armenia, and I would like to state that we had the opportunity to implement road construction through your taxes. We have set a higher bar for next year with trust in you and with the confidence that the business community of Armenia consists of exceptionally talented people who will generate higher results next year.

We take pride in the fact that the state budget overperformed in the amount of AMD 100,000,000,000 in terms of taxes this year. It is a great honor for me and it is extremely pleasant for me to meet with you in such a mood, and frankly, I am here to express gratitude to you and state that we, the Government of Armenia and I, as the elected representative of the people of Armenia, rely on you.

I would like to assure you that the Government of Armenia will do everything it can to ensure the good mood. I don’t want to talk about the problems today, but I want you to know that the key objective of the government is to ensure conditions to implement the slogan “get rich and enrich” in Armenia. I am certain that the year 2020 will be a year of working by the law, and we will prove that one can work hard and earn not only money and ensure welfare, but also get rich fairly.

I would like to wish your families, colleagues, friends and close ones a Happy New Year and Christmas,a nd since there are many big businessmen attending this event, I would like to wish your employees a Happy New Year and Christmas and wish that these relations become better and more effective and dynamic every year. Thank you.”