Thursday, January 12 2023 15:23

ArmInfo. The Armenian passport took an unenviable 79th place in the World Passport Index, compiled by the Henley & Partners consulting company.

It is interesting to note that the most powerful passport among the  current and former CIS countries is the passport of Ukraine - it has  36th  place in the Index ( with 144 countries visa-free destinations)  and Moldova - 47th  place (121 countries). According to Frank Media,  the countries popular among Russian immigrants in 2022 are mostly  ranked below the Russian Federation, the passport of which ranks 49th  , and gives its holders visa-free or visa-facilitated entry to 118  countries on arrival. For example, Georgia is on the 50th line with  116 visa-free destinations, Turkey is on the 52nd  place with 110  countries, Kazakhstan is on the 70th  place with 76 countries,  Armenia is on the 79th  line (66 countries), Uzbekistan is on the  85th  place (59 countries).

Most countries are open to holders of Japanese passports - 193  countries out of 227. The passport of this country leads the ranking  of the most powerful passports in the world in terms of the number of  visa-free destinations. Singapore and South Korea hold the 2nd place  with 192 visa-free destinations. Germany and Spain  are in the 3rd  place - 190 countries. The top 10 countries also include most of the  EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. An analysis by Henley  & Partners experts points to a link between the power of a passport  and the economic power of a country. However, the share of national  GDP in world GDP is not an indicator of the economic strength of the  passport, they conclude. For example, the US and China account for  25% and 19% of global GDP, respectively, but US passport holders can  gain visa-free access to another 43% of global GDP, bringing their  combined share to 68%. While Chinese passport holders can only get  visa-free access to an additional 7%, bringing their total to just  26% of the world's gross domestic product.

Economic freedom is achieved through economic mobility and visa-free  access to countries with similar or more stable economies, analysts  at Henley & Partners concluded. It is mobility that allows you to  reduce risks and increase profits through access to more stable  economies.

As independent observers in Armenia note, neither the  post-revolutionary democracy of the country nor the openness of its  economy to the outside world have given the citizens of Armenia any  preferences. The visa- free regime with the EU countries, which has  been discussed for more than a decade, has not been granted to the  country. And the rating of the Armenian passport remained at the  level of the passports of  such countries as Namibia or Tunisia. All  this indicates significant gaps in the work of the Armenian Foreign  Ministry.