Friday, June 7 2019 17:24

ArmInfo. Today, Armenia is experiencing an important period in its modern history, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on June 7 during his speech at  the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic  Forum (SPIEF'19).

"I will begin my speech with the traditional words of gratitude for  organizing this meeting and for giving me the opportunity to share  thoughts on the development paths of our country and the tasks our  government solves to achieve this goal," said Pashinyan.

According to him, against the background of political stability and  an unprecedentedly high degree of legitimacy of the authorities,  fundamental changes are taking place in Armenia. Their ultimate goal,  as the Prime Minister pointed out, is the creation of a competitive  and technologically developed economy and modern society based on the  universal principles of equality, justice and the rule of law.

,  Pashinyan tried to  explain. In short, he explained, we can say that they are aimed at  improving the efficiency of the functioning of political and economic  institutions in Armenia. As the head of the government noted, Armenia  is a country that has no direct access to the sea, with limited  economic and natural resources and a difficult geographical position  in terms of logistic corridors and geopolitical features of the  region. All these difficulties in a certain form stimulate Armenians  to permanent actions aimed at increasing competitiveness and  efficiency.

These factors, according to Pashinyan, mean for Armenia, firstly, the  need to improve the efficiency of the state management system.

At the same time, as the Prime Minister pointed out, in the course of  actions to improve the economic and political environment, Armenia  faced a fundamental problem. "The judicial authority of the country,  in contrast to the executive and legislative branches, in which there  is a qualitative progress in the optimization of institutions, has  not undergone any tangible transformation. As a result, there was a  huge breach in public confidence in the judiciary. And this, in turn,  creates serious obstacles to the development of the country as a  whole>,he said. In this context, according to the head of the  Cabinet, all government efforts to protect capital, create equal  conditions for economic activity and create a favorable environment  for attracting foreign investment will not bring the desired result  if the judiciary is not qualitatively transformed.  As the Prime  Minister stressed, corruption that has penetrated into the judicial  bodies destroys the moral foundations of society and creates a  culture incompatible with economic development and progress in  general. "Therefore, the creation of a truly independent judiciary,  free from corruption, is today a pressing issue for the Armenian  society and a priority in the reform strategy of the Armenian  government," Pashinyan said.

Secondly, as he noted, this is the full use of the potential of  foreign economic relations and participation in international  integration structures. In the opinion of the head of government of  the Republic of Armenia, for such countries as Armenia, the  institutionalization of access to the centers of the world economy  and activity is very important.

"This primarily relates to our cooperation with the Russian  Federation and participation in the Eurasian Economic Union. We are  committed to the further improvement of the strategic partnership  with Russia and the most productive participation in the Union. For  this purpose, we will make every effort to improve cooperation  mechanisms and maximize the integration between the members of our  association. This with equal facility applies to our CSTO  membership," he said.

At the same time, the Prime Minister stressed the interest of the  Armenian side in expanding the geography of foreign economic  relations of the Eurasian Economic Union. "China is of particular  importance in this sense. I am pleased to note that in recent days we  have achieved high dynamics in the development of bilateral relations  with this country, which plays a key role in the global economy, "he  said. According to Pashinyan, as a member of the EAEU, the RA sees  the importance of creating institutional cooperation between various  integration associations and projects.

Nikol Pashinyan also considers promising a policy of deepening  cooperation between the EAEU and the European Union. "I think that if  not in the near future, then in any case, in the medium term, such  cooperation is realizable and even inevitable.

Pashinyan also touched on relations with the European Union. "With  the EU, Armenia has an agreement on an in-depth and comprehensive  partnership, which we intend to use with maximum efficiency for the  design and implementation of our reforms. Partnership with the EU in  no way contradicts our membership in the EAEU. It complements it,  enriching our capabilities with new comparative advantages, "he said.

Thirdly, as the prime Minister pointed out, this is the most  efficient use of the country's human potential.  

As Pashinyan noted, over the past seven years, the information  technology sector in Armenia has grown fivefold. It has become one of  the drivers of the country's economic growth and its most promising  industry. "Education and innovation, cooperation and integration, the  establishment of the rule of law and good governance are where we see  our potential advantage, which will allow us to fully utilize our  resources and achieve conditions for sustainable economic  development," he said.

According to the Prime Minister, Armenia has already embarked on this  path - in the first quarter, GDP growth reached 7.1%, while in April,  economic activity was 9.2%. "We are asking international business to  invest in Armenia," he said, recalling the words that have become a  kind of motto for the new government "get rich and enrich ".