The development of the information technologies in Armenia is not connected with the state financing programmes and with declaring the IT sector a priority branch in Armenia, deputy chairman of the public organization "Internet-society", Grigor Saghyan, made such a statement on 12 September.
He recalled that in December 2000, according to the decree of Armenia's prime minister, IT industry was recognized the priority branch. "The IT in Armenia has been developing with progress since 2000 but not thanks to declaring this sector a priority one. ", - he said and added that the republic has got the development potential thanks to formation of a good school for IT specialists and mathematicians. He said that the state financing programmes did not affect the IT development process. Moreover, some programmes are doubtful. For instance, the state allocated 20 million drams to the innovation centre "Microsoft" as a state financing. "It is strange that the state shows financial aid to "Microsoft", but not visa versa", - he said.
He also added that the high quality IT specialists in Armenia earn $4-5 thsd monthly. They can live very well in Armenia having such a salary and there is no need to leave the country for abroad looking for higher salary. "But if the state starts controlling this sphere and these profits are taxed, it will result in outflow of specialists", - Saghyan said.