Creation of 300,000 new jobs to increase country`s employed  population by almost 50% - Strong Armenia 

ArmInfo. The creation of 300,000 new jobs in Armenia will increase the country's employment rate by almost 50%. Narek Karapetyan, a member of the Strong Armenia party council, stated this in an interview with CIVILNET.

As a reminder, the party's leader, renowned entrepreneur and  philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, previously presented five steps for  Strong Armenia, which include creating 300,000 new jobs, exempting  small businesses from taxes, reducing pharmaceutical prices by 20%,  guaranteeing the purchase of harvests in rural areas, and  co-financing housing programs for young and large families.

According to Narek Karapetyan, the country currently has  approximately 3 million people, 800,000 of whom are officially  registered, another 500,000 are pensioners, and 400,000 are children  and first-year students in higher education institutions. Thus, as  Narek Karapetyan noted, it can be said that approximately 1.2-1.3  million people in the republic need permanent employment.  Agriculture, which is seasonal and economically inefficient, is also  a factor in keeping unemployment low. De facto, the Party Council  member continued, virtually all farmers and their farms are  registered as employed.

"According to our calculations, there are 1.2-1.3 million people in  the country who need permanent employment, but we set ourselves the  goal of creating 300,000 new jobs over the next five years. Of the  800,000 officially registered workers in the country, approximately  600,000 are in the private sector. Essentially, 800,000 people work  to support 3 million citizens. If we exclude government employees,  we'll end up with approximately 600,000 people employed in the  private sector, thereby generating an economic impact," emphasized  Narek Karapetyan.

He added that achieving this goal will radically change the tax base  and demographic situation, and, overall, create a completely new  economic situation. One of the most important areas for creating new  jobs is the country's reindustrialization. During the Soviet era,  when the republic was considered industrially developed, Armenia's  per capita GDP was equal to that of Portugal; in 1993, this figure  fell to the level of Burkina Faso. It was then that the country fell  into stagnation-social and economic-which led to emigration.  Reindustrialization will solve the employment problem in the  republic's regions.

This is also planned to be addressed through import substitution. For  example, in the energy sector, 90% of all costs previously went to  importing necessary equipment from abroad. Now, this problem has been  95% resolved. The examples of Electric Networks of Armenia and  High-Voltage Electric Networks CJSC are clear evidence of this.

Overall, as Narek Karapetyan noted, most of the 40 most common goods  imported to Armenia can be produced locally. He refuted government  allegations of shady deals at Electric Networks of Armenia, where  purchases were made without tenders.

Purchases were made primarily from local producers through import  substitution. To achieve this, an economic cycle was created, which,  on the one hand, prevented tariff increases for end consumers and, on  the other, provided jobs. However, if the cost of foreign equivalents  was lower than domestic ones, purchases were made outside the  country. The same import substitution goal, as the politician noted,  can be achieved with regard to military products, which require  billions of dollars in procurement. During the 44-day war, the  Armenian side suffered significant losses only because of problems  with arms deliveries, with planes carrying military cargo arriving  via Iran.