Vazgen Safaryan: Armenia needs to regain the status of industrial country

ArmInfo. We need to return the status of an industrial country in order to successfully implement the new program of the Armenian government. The chairman of the Union of Industrialists and Manufacturers of Armenia, Vazgen Safaryan expressed this opinion, during the press conference on June 28. In this context, he recalled that the government's economic development program adopted the other day envisages an increase in the share of exports in the GDP structure to 40% in five years, but this is impossible to achieve without industrial policy.

According to Safaryan, Armenia should restore old ties and start supplying industrial products primarily to the Russian market. In this regard, the priority should be a large chemistry, engineering, machinery, electrical engineering.

The expert also noted that today Russia remains the priority market for agricultural products for Armenian producers. According to him, in 2016, Armenia exported 133 thousand tons of agricultural products to Russia.

However, according to the expert, copper, molybdenum concentrates and aluminum are supplied to the markets of European countries. At the same time, he explained that due to fluctuations in prices in international markets, Armenian producers are forced to increase production volumes in order not to lose in revenue as a result.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the volume of industrial production in Armenia in 2016 by the same period of the previous year increased by 6.7% (against growth of 5.2% a year earlier), amounting to 1.429 trillion AMD ($ 2.9 billion). Accelerating growth was facilitated by improved manufacturing dynamics and a continuing upward trend in the mining sector, which is a traditional driver of growth.

In January-April 2017, the volume of Armenia's industrial production by the same period of 2016 increased by 12.9% (against 10% growth a year earlier), making 485.5 billion AMD ($ 999.7 million).