Tuesday, April 23 2019 10:42

ArmInfo.On April 22, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan visited the "Engineering City".

According to the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia,  the center was established within the framework of a public-private  partnership. The program provides for the training and retraining of  1,500 information technology professionals, the creation of 2,000 new  jobs, start-ups, an increase in the efficiency of companies and an  increase in export volumes.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan examined the center, familiarized himself with  the concept of creating an "Engineering city", the latest engineering  achievements, and models for introducing innovative solutions.  The  Minister was accompanied by the Director of the "Enterprise Incubator  " Foundation Bagrat Yengibaryan. The interlocutors noted with  satisfaction that the development of IT sector has allowed to more  focus on domestic production. The role of the industry in the  development of engineering, the creation of favorable conditions for  the development of science and technology, as well as in the  preparation of popular specialists, was emphasized.

Earlier, ArmInfo, citing the Minister of Transport, Communication and  Information Technologies of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan,  reported that the construction of the Engineering City in Armenia  will be completed in late 2020 - early 2021. According to the  minister, for the construction of the engineering city, the Yerevan  mayor's office transferred 3 hectares of land on Bagrevand street,  the registered value of which is 135 million 720 thousand drams. As  Hakob Arshakyan continued, the project, worth $ 21.2 million, is  being implemented on the basis of a public-private partnership with  the assistance of the World Bank. There are also companies that are  united in a consortium interested in the implementation of this  program.

The government of Armenia at its meeting on March 1, 2018 approved  the concept of creating an engineering city and a schedule of  activities arising from the document. The goal of the program is to  turn Armenia into a country exporting engineering and high-tech  products and services to the global market, as well as into a  regional hub of innovative solutions. The program is planned to be  implemented on the basis of public-private partnership. The planned  volume of investments will be $ 21.2 million, of which $ 10.5 million  is state co-financing within the framework of the World Bank's loan  program "Trade and Quality Infrastructure Stimulation". The rest is  invested by National Instruments AM and a consortium of 14 joint-  stock companies. The program is expected to be self-costing in the  4th year of its activities. Within the framework of the project, it  is planned to train and retrain 1,500 specialists in the field of  engineering and high technologies. 2000 new jobs will be created and  20 new enterprises established in the area. It is also expected to  increase the efficiency of companies by 40%, export volumes by 30%.