Friday, February 14 2020 12:55

ArmInfo.The new government in Armenia not only strives for excellence, but also takes concrete actions for this. This, speaking at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in  Berlin, said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

As the press service of the government reports, in his speech the  head of the Armenian government noted that 2019 was a significant  year in the Armenian economy. First, after several years of  stagnation, two large international rating agencies - Fitch and  Moody's immediately upgraded the ratings of Armenia. Eurobonds were  issued with unprecedented demand and low interest rates. In addition,  in 2019, both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund  changed their assessments of the prospects for the economic  development of Armenia, significantly improving them. "Today we can  state that the Republic of Armenia is really reaping the fruits of  the revolution. Of course, I'm not saying that everything is perfect  in the Republic of Armenia, but I can say that we strive for  excellence and not only strive, but also take concrete actions for  this," - emphasized Nikol Pashinyan.

He also touched on the economic indicators of the republic. By the  end of 2019, economic growth of 7.9- 8% is expected, which, according  to the IMF, is the best indicator in the entire European region,  including among the former Soviet republics. In 2019, the inflation  rate was only 1.4%, unemployment decreased by 2.2%, export volumes  increased by 9%.

As a result of the fight against corruption, $ 105 million has been  returned to the state budget since 2018.  "But I have to say that  both I and our society are dissatisfied with this figure, because we  believe that the fight against corruption in the Republic of Armenia  should be much more effective Regarding the fight against corruption,  I would like to emphasize one of the nuances that is important for  assessing the events taking place in Armenia and for assessing the  reality>, the Prime Minister noted. In particular, according to him,  usually after the revolution comes a new government and struggling  with orruptsiey the previous one.  "We say that we have no past and  present corruption, we have the same corruption among officials, like  former officials. Since 2018, when I became prime minister, several  deputy ministers were held accountable for corruption, and just a  week ago, the head of the Committee for Urban Development was  arrested on charges of this crime, and this arrest was the arrest of  the most senior official in the history of the Third Republic. That  is, in the history of our country, not a single official of this rank  has been arrested.  In parallel with this, a large case of smuggling  involving officials in the customs service was uncovered. I emphasize  this to show, because this is an important nuance: the fight against  corruption was not, is not and will not be an instrument for solving  political problems. Acting officials are much more dangerous than  former officials, because they act today, especially after serious  political changes in Armenia, and their actions are much more  dangerous, "Nikol Pashinyan noted.

Continuing to list economic successes, he emphasized that in  2018-2019, the state budget revenues of the Republic of Armenia  increased by more than $ 1 billion. "We increased our budget revenues  by $ 1 billion for a year and a half following the results of  2018-2019. Another fact that indicates a double-digit growth in  tourism over the past two years. In 2018, the tourism sector grew by  12% and by 15% in 2019. And I am sure that this process will  continue, especially when low-cost airlines such as Armenia enter  Ryanair who will soon begin direct . Eysy from Berlin to Yerevan and  Gyumri from Gummingema am convinced that the growth of tourists from  Germany are not only maintained, but also increase "- premerministr  RA said.  He also pointed out the importance of the ideology  underlying the economic policy of the Government of the Republic of  Armenia. "Generally, the revolution was based on the slogan that we  voiced for many years. When we tell the citizens of the Republic that  the future of Armenia depends on each individual, we want every  citizen of Armenia to accept this very slogan, that the future of  Armenia depends on him. When the political revolution took place, we  adopted the agenda of the economic revolution and, in fact, put the  same concept at the center of the economic revolution, encouraging  our citizens to engage in economic activity and believe in the  ability to ensure their own welfare and well-being of the country.  And we urge our citizens, including foreign investors, of course, to  engage in economic activity in the Republic of Armenia, thus  enriching themselves and enriching themselves, "the Prime Minister  emphasized.  He added that 2019 was a very important year in this  regard, as he showed that an economic revolution is also possible  when every citizen begins to believe in his own strength, his own  creative talent, and the government takes steps to create conditions  for the realization of this creative talent . "This is the essence of  our current economic policy, and we say that individual efforts are  the key factor that will ultimately lead to the economic revolution  in Armenia, which we believe has already begun. In this regard, it is  very important for us to encourage education. In the near future I  will publish our strategic vision until 2050, and there will be  questions that we will formulate as the strategic goal of our  country. In my vision there is a point on education, which I consider  very important, according to this paragraph on education should  become a national way of life.What does it mean? Usually in many  places or in many cases education is understood as preschool, school,  university education, but we believe that education in the Republic  of Armenia should be changed, because education is a process by which  you need to live your whole life.