ArmInfo.Armenia needs a new elevator-building plant, Khachatur Sukiasyan, a member of the dominant parliamentary faction Civil Contract, stated in Parliament as he commented on the government-submitted draft amendments to the Law on Industrial Policy.
Such a plant operated in Armenia's Spitak in the Soviet era, but it was dismantled after the 1988 earthquake. "I have studied the prices for spare parts and logistic problems and arrived at the conclusion that such a plant can easily be constructed, with the production of high-quality elevators to start within six months," Mr Sukiasyan said.
Gurgen Arsenyan of the same parliamentary faction said that fixed assets were alienated after Armenia gained independence. However, any industrial policy is based on three components: fixed assets, human resources, licences for technologies. But the blockade is one of the major obstacles. Transport problems seriously affect the competitiveness of domestic products.
"So the government's major task is working out a set of measures that would enable competitive production. Some 5,000 patents were registered in Israel last year, but how many were registered in Armenia?"
In his turn, Artur Khachatryan of the opposition faction Armenia recalled the Global Innovation Index (GII) where Armenia's score 2,660.
"Armenia has not shown such a low figure since 2013," the MP said. In this context he highlights import substitution: the ban on the import from Turkey had a positive effect on Armenia's economy, with the textile industry, machine-building and agriculture developing. "Great!, But why, then, was the ban was removed?" In response to his inquiry Armenia's Ministry of Economy send the results of the WB- conducted research for 1999 to the MP. "But 1999 and 2013 are far apart, aren't they?" Mr Khachatryan said.