YEREVAN. – The number of Armenia-based IT companies has increased sharply after the law on tax preferences was adopted back in 2014, Deputy Minister of Transport, IT and Communication Gegham Vardanyan said.

Armenian parliament’s standing committee on economic affairs debated the package of amendments to the law on state support for IT sector and amendments to the tax code.

According to him, 59 IT companies received certificates on tax preferences in 2015, while in 2017 the number climbed to 272.

“Newly established companies opened 2,400 jobs with an average annual salary making 3-3.4 million drams,” Vardanyan said.

The standing committee approved the package, while Bright Armenia deputy Arkadiy Khachatryan as the only member to abstain on a vote.