Pashinyan: We intend to significantly increase spending on education,  healthcare and infrastructure

ArmInfo.  In Armenia over the next few years, we intend to significantly increase spending on education, healthcare and infrastructure. Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the ''Bulletin of the EAEU  Economy''.

According to him, this process will be accompanied by deep and  comprehensive political and institutional reforms. Pashinyan informed  that in Armenia the Economic Activity Index for the first half of the  year is 6.5%, which promises stable growth in 2019.

In addition, in 2018, Armenia became the second largest producer of  added value in the manufacturing industry among middle and upper  middle income countries and registered a 10% growth. Tax revenues  also increased by more than 25% in the first half of this year.

Pashinyan also drew attention to the fact that tourism is one of the  main and most sustainable sectors of the economy. Another important  sector is the processing industry.

''The growth of the added value of industry over three years exceeds  10%. Cumulative growth over three years is inferior only to Vietnam  and Bangladesh. In addition, industry continues to grow at the  expense of traditional sectors such as cognac, food production and  metallurgy'', the prime minister said.

The positive pace of development of light industry and the production  of high-tech goods was pointed out.  In addition, multimillion-dollar  investments are made into the production of wines and other alcoholic  beverages.

In parallel with traditional sectors of industry, the renewable  energy industry is actively developing. Thus, by the end of this  year, it is expected to launch a project to build the largest solar  photovoltaic power plant in the region on an industrial scale with a  peak capacity of 55 MW ($ 60 million) in the Gegharkunik region of  Armenia. The next step, according to Pashinyan, will be the  preparation of five solar stations with a total capacity of 120 MW  (approximately $ 120 million). "Also, an indirect result of the  development of this area was the appearance of several domestic  manufacturers of solar panels at once," Pashinyan informed.

To recall, "FRV Masrik", established by a foreign consortium, will  build a Masrik-1 solar power plant in the Metz Masrik community of  the Gegharkunik region of Armenia. A consortium of a Dutch company  with Spanish roots Photowatio Renewable Ventures B.V and Spanish FSL  Solar S.L. won a tender for the construction of the Masrik-1 station  with a capacity of 55 MW. (FSL Solar SL), which, in turn, founded the  FRV Masrik company in Armenia. In the selected area, all the  necessary infrastructural conditions have been created for the  construction of a modern powerful photovoltaic station that will  generate 120-150 million kW / h of electricity and provide 2% of the  total energy produced in the republic. According to experts, the  construction of Masrik-1 will amount to 55 million euros, however,  officially, the amount of investments in the construction of the  station has not been reported.

The total cost of the program for the construction of solar power  plants in Armenia is $ 129 million. In total, within the framework of  the program, it is planned to build solar stations with industrial  capacity of up to 110 megawatts in various regions of Armenia. Of the  6 surveyed locations in two, the Spanish consulting company Aries  Engineering has already submitted feasibility studies. They relate to  the Masrik (Masrik-2) areas in the Gegharkunik region and the  Dashtadem in the Aragatsotn region, research on the remaining four  areas is ongoing.