Thursday, November 14 2019 22:55

ArmInfo. From an institutional point of view, the main factor hindering the investment  environment in Armenia is the underdevelopment of the securities  market, which creates problems for both business and citizens. This  opinion was expressed on November 14 by Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan during his speech at an event dedicated to the results of  the year of activity of the US Chamber of Commerce in the Republic of  Armenia.

"Today, citizens have no alternatives for storing their savings with  the exception of bank deposits, and companies have not been provided  with other ways to raise funds other than the banking system," he  said.

The Prime Minister stressed that today the government is thinking  about possible options to stimulate the development of the securities  market through government decisions. In this regard, Pashinyan said  that the government intends to identify possible state-owned  enterprises that could issue securities after a certain development  cycle.

"It will be good if we can make these enterprises profitable and  transparent through legislative initiatives and the provision of  incentives, so that, according to the results of the international  audit, it is revealed that the latter are" healthy ", only then can  they get an IPO. This is work for several years, "he stressed, noting  that the government has already decided on 4 state-owned enterprises  that have the potential to use such tools.

In addition, according to the head of government, in order to  increase the attractiveness of the investment environment in the  Republic of Armenia, the State Fund for National Interests was  created, which will prepare investment proposals. "In other words,  the Fund will determine investment programs, package them and offer  potential investors who have funds, but have not yet decided which  direction they would like to develop investment activities," he  explained.

At the same time, the prime minister noted, the Ministry of Economy  should work with specific investment projects, providing investors  with all the necessary information about the country and its  capabilities.

At the same time, Pashinyan emphasized that in Armenia there is still  no quick mechanism for responding to investment proposals. "I  instructed the relevant authorities to conduct research in this area  in order to understand which government departments do not properly  respond to investor requests," he said.

It should be noted that the volume of total foreign investments in  the real sector of the Armenian economy in the first half of 2019  compared with the same period in 2018 increased by 26.2% (against  12.7% growth a year earlier), amounting to $ 1.5 billion. In the  first half of 2019, total foreign investments accounted for 21.6%  (against 22.6% a year earlier) or $ 319.2 million, which is 21%  higher than the same period in 2018 (against a decline of 20.5% a  year earlier).