Armenia's Economic Pulse

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

HAYPOST NOW OFFERS CUSTOMS SERVICES

Tert.am
13:28 ~U 04.02.10

A ruling released by the Armenian government today permits HayPost,
the company responsible for postal services in Armenia, to deliver
brokering customs services to its customers.

RA Minister of Transport and Communication Gurgen Arsenyan told
journalists at a press conference that until today, citizens who
received parcels had to make the customs clearance themselves which
required a lot of time.

So it will facilitate the process of receiving parcels as the customs
clearance will be done on the spot.

Arsenyan mentioned that in 2009, for the first time in its history,
HayPost closed the year with a profit - 1.2 million AMD. Last year,
the company repaired 30 post office branches, with 50 more to be
repaired this year.

HayPost is currently given to the Dutch HayPost Trust Management
company for concessional governance. Argentinian-Armenian businessman
Eduardo Ernekyan is a stakeholder of Dutch HayPost Trust Management.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

For a long time i have been argueing that opening the border will not hurt armenias economy and will help it instead and here is more proof.

TURKO-ARMENIAN TRADE VOLUMES SOAR DESPITE DIPLOMATIC STALEMATE

World Markets Research Center
Global Insight
February 3, 2010

BYLINE: Grace Annan

The Armenian Chamber of Commerce has issued surprisingly high
figures on the trade volume between Armenia and Turkey in 2009. The
volume reached US$300 million, US$200 million higher than what the
Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC) had expected, and
still US$100 million above World Bank estimates. On the Turkish side,
this volume was particularly fuelled by activities of businessmen
from Eastern and South-Eastern Anatolia, according to the co-chair
of the TABDC, Kaan Soyak. The figures were not confirmed by either
country's government officials, as they do not officially record
bilateral trade volumes between Armenia and Turkey, due to the
still-difficult relations between the two countries.

Significance:Turko-Armenian trade volume is seemingly going the
opposite way to Turko-Armenian diplomatic ties. Although the latter
was hailed as having a potential to soar over the coming years,
paving the way for more business ties, it seems like business,
rather than politics, will facilitate the initial dialogue between
Armenians and Turks on medium and lower levels (seeTurkey - Armenia:
12 October 2009. Arguably, the economic crisis in both countries
may have something to do with the increased interest in forging ties,
but this should not lower the surprising achievement. Yet the stalemate
is a predominantly socio-political one, and it will continue to hamper
business ties between the two countries until it is fully resolved.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

ARMENIA-TURKEY BORDER'S OPENING WILL INTENSIFY LIFE IN JAVAKHETI

Aysor
Feb 5 2010
Armenia

"Armenia-Turkey border's opening will intensify living in
Armenian-populated Georgia's region of Javakheti," said Parliament's
Deputy and leader of the non-governmental "Georgia-born Armenians'
Union", Hyke Sanosian.

He said that the border's opening will reinvigorate social and
economical spheres of Javakheti as it is taken into account the
certain development of Turkey-Georgia relations.

When asked whether Yerevan-Batumi highway's construction works may
be frozen in connection with 'cool Armenia-Georgia relations', Hyke
Sanosian said it was false.

"The Yerevan-Batumi highway's construction works are starting this
year and will be completed by 2017," he said.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

IRAN-ARMENIA TRADE CENTER PLANNED

ARKA
Feb 9, 2010

Tehran, Feb 9, IRNA - The establishment of Iran-Armenia trade center
will pave the way for exchange of goods and services between both
countries.

Announcing this, deputy minister of commerce, Babak Afqahi told
the International Conference to Introduce Trade and Investment
Opportunities in Armenia Tuesday that the center will help boost
exchanges between the two countries.

Stating that trade exchanges worth $200 million between the two
countries in 2008 is not acceptable, he further noted that the figure
is meager compared to the volume of exchanges with other neighboring
states.

One of the strategies of Iran is to increase its economic exchanges
with its neighbors, Afqahi, who also doubles as the head of Iran's
Trade Development Center said, noting that's for the same reason that
Armenia is of significant priority for Iran in this respect.

He also expressed Iranian companies' readiness to open a new era of
cooperation with that country.

Iran is prepared to make available different technologies to that
country, he noted..

International Conference to Introduce Trade and Investment
Opportunities in Armenia is to end in Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting's (IRIB) Conferences Hall on Wednesday.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenian Workers Fired After Fresh Strike

A Canadian-owned mining company has controversially laid off more than 50 of its employees after the latest strike at its ore-processing plant located in the southeastern town of Kapan.

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/1955563.html

Those Canadians... we thought ''Western'' nations were civilized compared to Russians

[Federate]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Opposition Bloc Unveils New Economic Manifesto

The main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) unveiled on Tuesday a detailed plan of actions which it said are necessary for a “radical transformation” of Armenia’s flawed economic system.

The 15-page program was developed by a team of economists led by former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratian. It lists 100 policy measures which the HAK believes would end the monopolization of key sectors of the Armenian economy, improve the country’s business environment and ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth among its citizens.

The opposition bloc led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian specifically wants to shift the main tax burden from small and medium-sized enterprises to a handful of government-linked “oligarchs” whom it accused of “strangling free enterprise” in the country. This would be done through the introduction of a progressive income tax scale as well as sharp increases in other taxes paid by the wealthiest Armenians.

The program also calls for a substantial toughening of Armenia’s anti-trust legislation and a strict separation of business and politics. It says these measures would put an end to “the extreme concentration of the country’s economic resources in the hands of a few oligarchs and their families.”

Armenia would also be able to quickly double the volume of its state budget, according to the program. It says that would in turn allow for sharp increases in pensions and public sector salaries as well as government spending on education and public services.

“These authorities cater for the oligarchy and are simply unable to implement this program,” the HAK’s central office coordinator, Levon Zurabian, said, presenting the program at a news conference. He said the bloc would itself take such measures if it succeeds in toppling the government.

Zurabian claimed that the HAK is getting ready for snap national elections in view of what he called continuing government “failures.” “If the failures continue at this pace, power will simply fall on our head, and we must be prepared for that,” he said.

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/1966343.html

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

ENTERPRISE TO DEAL WITH EXPORT AND IMPORT PROBLEMS TO BE ESTABLISHED

Noyan Tapan
March 9, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. During the March 9 meeting with the
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the members of the Council
of the National Union of Farmers spoke about their problems related
to agricultural development, in particular the current problems in
poultry farming, potato and vegetable growing, sheep breeding and
beekeeping. Priority was given to expansion of the opportunities to
export agricultural products, improvement of the legislative field,
and elaboration of a model of long-term development of agriculture.

The RA Government Information and PR Department reports that
T. Sargsyan gave instructions to the minister of agriculture regarding
solution of the indicated problems. He assigned the ministry of
agriculture to establish jointly with the National Union of Farmers
an enterprise to deal with export and import problems. The prime
minister attached importance to the development of an efficient
model of cooperation, saying that he would personally control the
implementation of joint projects.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

At least one thing's going right with our NX.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Aluminum foil gives Armenia boost in trade with U.S.


Washington - Despite a sharp economic downturn last year Armenia registered a slight surplus in its trade with the United States for the first time since records began to be kept in 1992.

According to figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau, reduction in U.S. exports to Armenia and concurrent U.S. imports of more than $62 million worth of aluminum foil - produced at Armenal, the Kanaker-based aluminum plant owned by Russia's Rusal holding - were key to generating the unprecedented outcome.

Last December, Armenal reportedly doubling of its output in 2009 to 20,000 metric tons of foil, following a Rusal-introduced modernization of the Soviet-era mill.

Overall, Armenia exported $77.6 million worth of products to U.S. while importing slightly less - $77.5 million.

Armenia's other export categories were substantially more modest, including $1.4 million worth of tobacco products, $1.1 million - of xxxelry, with brandy, non-alcoholic beverages and chloroprene rubber (from Yerevan's Nairit plant) accounting for between half a million to less than a million U.S. dollars each.

In 2002-8 Armenia's exports to U.S. stood at between $30 to $50 million, with U.S. exports to Armenia normally amounting to between $100 and $150 million.

http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=CD30B222-2CA9-11DF-9E1E0003FF3452C2

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

The rise in exports is great but the decline in imports could mean a number of different things.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

The rise in exports is great but the decline in imports could mean a number of different things.

Hopefully it's self-sufficiency.