Armenia's Economic Pulse

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

**Great stuff**

The President attended the opening of multi-family housing complex, built in the framework of social programs to provide housing.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenia to export first batches of wine to India

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. First pilot batches of Armenian wine will
be exported to India very soon, Robert Makaryan, Armenian deputy
agriculture minister, told journalists on Tuesday.

Sergo Karapetyan, Armenian agriculture minister, discussed wine export
prospects with his Indian colleagues as he visited India in February,
and an appropriate agreement was signed in May.

Makaryan refrained from saying how much wine Armenian sends to India
now and how much it will export in the future.

According to the Armenian foreign ministry, the Indian market’s full
potential is not known in Armenia so far, and trade turnover between
the two countries amounts to $50-60 million.

The National Statistical Service of Armenia says the country’s wine
output grew 10.8% in Jan-June 2016, compared with the same period a
year before, to 2,973,800 liters. --0----

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__arka.am_en_news_economy_armenia-5Fto-5Fexport-5Ffirst-5Fbatches-5Fof-5Fwine-5Fto-5Findia-5F_&d=DQIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=XHat3rqQ93vR0agW7AIA9V9XrvbRpY5NAzh_QcwOfvk&s=n4yTYdbUGM8P1SFvwsr3UxvUrZdVbvxc9uOCz8NWU_M&e=

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenia’s exports of apricots reach last year’s record high figures



Inline images 1

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. Armenia’s exports of apricots, a major agricultural product, to Russia and other countries, have nearly reached last year’s record high figures, deputy minister of agriculture Robert Makaryan, told a news conference today.

According to him, Armenia has exported so far 19,257 tons of apricot, slightly down from 20,855 tons exported in 2015.

"Despite pessimistic forecasts about the apricot output, their export is still underway, while prices compared with last year have increased significantly," said Makaryan.

Wholesale buyers purchase them for 500-600 drams per kilogram from farmers depending on the size and appearance of the apricots , while local canneries pay 70-75 drams, up from 40-50 drams they paid in 2015.

Earlier, minister Sergo Karapetyan had predicted that the total output of apricots this year would reach 60,000 tons. ($ 1 - 476.14 drams) .-- 0--

http://arka.am/en/news/business/armenia_s_exports_of_apricots_reach_last_year_s_record_high_figures/

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Half a million tourists visited Armenia in six months



Inline images 1

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. The number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia in the first six months of 2016 grew by 2.4% from the year before to 501,000 Mekhak Apresyan, head of an economy ministry’s department in charge of tourism, said to a news conference today. Similarly, the number of Armenians traveling abroad as tourists rose by 1.2% to about 470,000 people, he added.

According to him, the bulk of foreigners visiting Armenia as tourists are from Russia, Europe, Iran, Georgia and the United States. He added that the rise in the number of Iranian tourists is significant.

Apresyan specified that that the number of Iranian tourists last year was 24% up from the previous year reaching 144,000 people.

Apresyan said that his department has developed a marketing program to attract more tourists from Japan, Russia, China and Arab countries. -0-

http://arka.am/en/news/tourism/half_a_million_tourists_visited_armenia_in_six_months_/

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenia Announces Creation Of Free Economic Zone At Border With Iran

http://www.azatutyun.am/a/27939411.html

[Azad]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenia Announces Creation Of Free Economic Zone At Border With Iran

Very smart move.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Very smart move.

Things like this make me question the will of this government to improve the domestic situation. Why was this not done decades ago? Only when the xxxx hits the fan do they seem to get off their asses and do something to improve the lives of their people. I would not be too hopeful about the results though as there is still no rail connection there which would allow for massive trade between Iran and EEU. The potential is much greater for this via Azerbadjan. Had they built up such a zone decades ago, by now we could be pointing to it and saying "look there is the proof that the railroad is worth building". This government is reactionary instead of proactive.

[londontsi]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Money from sale of MFA former building to be used for repairing Yerevan streets

http://news.am/eng/news/343261.html

YEREVAN. – The money, which was received from the sale of the building that also housed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia, will be allocated for the repair of streets in capital city Yerevan.

The respective decision was approved at Thursday’s Cabinet session.

This amount, which totals approximately US$4,886,000, will be used for filling up the cracks on and the current repair of Yerevan streets, and maintenance of the external lighting network of the city.

In its stead, however, the Armenian state budget will allocate the same amount to the reserve fund.

The building was sold to Tango construction company, whose proprietor is Argentinean Armenian billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian.

Aside from purchasing this building, the company also built a new government building complex, at its expense in downtown Yerevan, for the MFA and four other ministries of Armenia.


.

[Mher]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Things like this make me question the will of this government to improve the domestic situation. Why was this not done decades ago? Only when the xxxx hits the fan do they seem to get off their asses and do something to improve the lives of their people. I would not be too hopeful about the results though as there is still no rail connection there which would allow for massive trade between Iran and EEU. The potential is much greater for this via Azerbadjan. Had they built up such a zone decades ago, by now we could be pointing to it and saying "look there is the proof that the railroad is worth building". This government is reactionary instead of proactive.

While our government has room to improve, there were also plenty of obstacles starting from Iranian protectionist policies to sanctions on Iran. It wasn't that Armenia didn't pursue it, but that it wasn't feasible. The magnitude of the effect of the Iranian sanctions being removed will only start to be felt in the coming years. Moreover, this is the fruit of the very intelligent EEU decision by Armenia despite the endless hysteria three years ago.

Finally I've seen plenty of key economic moves since ARF joined the government and Artsvik Minasyan of the ARF was appointed economic minister. It's amazing what happens when you decide to become part of the process and participate, instead of protesting like an idiot on the street.


It's amazing how we approach the Armenian government. It's damned if you and damned if you don't. If there is corruption, no matter to what extent, we declare Armenia to be the worst place there is and scream about why it's not being addressed. When the corruption is addressed, we say why was there corruption in the first place for it to be addressed, or why wasn't it done earlier. Same situation here, even a positive, we manage to turn into a negative and say why wasn't it done earlier.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

While our government has room to improve, there were also plenty of obstacles starting from Iranian protectionist policies to sanctions on Iran. It wasn't that Armenia didn't pursue it, but that it wasn't feasible. The magnitude of the effect of the Iranian sanctions being removed will only start to be felt in the coming years. Moreover, this is the fruit of the very intelligent EEU decision by Armenia despite the endless hysteria three years ago.

Finally I've seen plenty of key economic moves since ARF joined the government and Artsvik Minasyan of the ARF was appointed economic minister. It's amazing what happens when you decide to become part of the process and participate, instead of protesting like an idiot on the street.


It's amazing how we approach the Armenian government. It's damned if you and damned if you don't. If there is corruption, no matter to what extent, we declare Armenia to be the worst place there is and scream about why it's not being addressed. When the corruption is addressed, we say why was there corruption in the first place for it to be addressed, or why wasn't it done earlier. Same situation here, even a positive, we manage to turn into a negative and say why wasn't it done earlier.

Mher you cannot use my own words to criticize me as I was the one who defended the government a long time using the same words. The issue is that over time the government has consistently been caught flat footed regarding domestic events, especially relating to economic betterment of the people. This is not about any particular issue, it is more about lacking either the will or the know how or both to improve the situation at hand. Plenty of economic opportunities have slipped through the hands of this government because of its own ineptitude or corruption. These negative qualities are in no way unique to the Armenian government but they are a major obstacles that prevent Armenia from reaching her potential. I was the only one here that defended the government for a looong time as most of the issues it was being blamed for were not of its own making. The reason why I am criticizing it now is because this administration has had a lot of time to build the economy and instill trust into the public yet it has not exactly succeeded in the former and definitely failed miserably in the later. Situational factors should always be considered such as the sabotage initiated by the west against Russia and her allies but this government has had time to react, it has had stability to create, it has had opportunities to waist. The potential to develop great trade and diplomatic relations with Iran is fading if it has not faded already as Iran has deemed the Armenian government unreliable as a partner in anything. What has the west or anyone else given us for honoring the unjust and stupid embargo? We lost major opportunities and got nothing in return...stupid, stupid, stupid!!!!! I was the one who pointed out before everybody else here including yourself that Armenia lacks true sovereignty and this is still very much true, the problem I have is that the government has not taken advantage of whatever opportunities that did exist despite all the obstacles. This government and its leader have been effective in strategic relations but not on the economic and social fronts. Trust between the people and the administration is nonexistent and this has a lot to do with the failures I mentioned. No one points to foreign meddlers more then I, but at some point the government needs to be held accountable for its own failures!