Friday, December 6 2019 17:11

ArmInfo.On December 6, under chairmanship of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the government of Armenia held discussions on applications for budget financing of  state departments. Today, applications for budget financing of the  Ministry of High-Tech Industry and the National Security Service of  the Republic of Armenia for 2020 were discussed.  According to the  press service of the Prime Minister, the applications were discussed  taking into account the main tasks of departments requiring urgent  resolution of issues, priorities, as well as ongoing reforms.

Touching upon programs for next year, the head of the Ministry of  High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakyan stated that it is planned to  retrain several thousand specialists through the establishment of  strong cooperation between the private sector and universities of the  country. The agency plans to implement innovative grant programs and  conduct business courses.

In 2020, it is planned to introduce mechanisms to attract the  potential of the Diaspora and international managers in high-tech  areas, and the National Venture Fund will start. The ministry also  aims to implement new projects for the development of technology  parks in the regions of Armenia and to continue the construction of  the Engineering City. Arshakyan recalled that following the visit of  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Silicon Valley, an agreement was  reached to create an "Armenian corner", where Armenian specialists  will have the opportunity for professional growth and the development  of their potential.

The meeting participants also touched upon programs in the  military-industrial complex, in the framework of which it is planned  to pay special attention to large-scale research work. Work is also  underway towards the implementation of new investment programs with  the participation of private companies.  The meeting also discussed  the budgetary allocations to the NSS of Armenia for 2020.

Earlier, ArmInfo reported that the "truncated" Ministry of high-tech  industry will receive 12,371.8 million drams in 2020. Expenditures on  military development will grow by 122%, reaching 6.3 billion drams.  The funds will be partially directed to the implementation of  research and development (R&D), and the other, taking into account  the defense needs of Armenia and the possibility of accessing foreign  markets, to the development of production capacities. According to  the head of the department, the allocated funds will be spent on  Armenia becoming an exporting country of high-tech military products.   It is planned to allocate 34.5 billion drams to meet the needs of the  National Security Service of Armenia, of which about 31 billion will  be directed directly to the implementation of national security  programs.  There has been a slight increase in budget allocations to  address issues related to the security of high- ranking foreign  guests. 2.3 billion drams will be allocated from the state treasury  to solve this problem, which is 255 million drams higher than the  2019 deductions. Basically, additional financial resources will be  directed to the acquisition of new machinery and equipment, which,  according to the acting head of the department, is noticeably  outdated.