ArmInfo.Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the work of the session of the Economic Policy Council under the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia was held August 6 and 7, at the Dilijan educational and research center of the Central Bank of Armenia.
On August 6, the participants discussed issues related to economic policy of Armenia, current situation and forecasted developments are the subject of discussion. The Government Action Plan, macroeconomic developments, monetary and fiscal policy, improvement the competitiveness of agriculture, development of the food system, and other topics were discussed.
Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan and Head of the Dilijan Research Center of the Central Bank Armen Nurbekyan made reports. In his report, the Minister of Finance referred to the 2017-2021 economic developments, fiscal policy priorities for ensuring high economic growth in the medium term, macroeconomic indicators expected by the Government's Action Plan, current and capital expenditures and a number of other issues. The Minister of Economy presented a summary report on the implementation of the economic plan of the Government, the effect of the exchange rate on the economy and exports. In his report, the Head of the Dilijan Research Center of the Central Bank referred to the monetary policy, inflation and currency developments, uncertainties due to the pandemic and war and forecasts.
The participants of the session expressed their observations, an exchange of ideas took place on the issues raised in the reports, economic trends and development prospects. Reference was also made to the economic challenges caused by the international situation.
The Prime Minister noted that the priority goal of the Government is the development of human capital, and for this purpose, radical reforms are being implemented in the field of education. In this context, reference was made to the Government's programs aimed at increasing the productivity of the economy and creating knowledge-based economy.
On the second day of the session, issues related to sustainable development of agriculture and food system, improvement of competitiveness of agriculture through land reforms were discussed. Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan made reports. He referred to the Government's vision of the sustainable development of the food system, which is aimed at the development of high-value agricultural products. strategic goals, priorities, challenges and current programs were presented. He noted that in 2021 the gross agricultural output amounted to 933 million AMD, recording an increase. The effectiveness of the state agricultural equipment leasing program was emphasized, within the framework of which equipment is renewed by 2% per year. today there are more than 26,000 units of agricultural machinery in Armenia, and the increase in productivity in some directions, for example, in the field of export of canned fruits and vegetables is conditioned by the successful course of this program. The efficiency of intensive orchard establishment and agricultural risk insurance programs were also mentioned. A discussion was held about the agricultural reforms of the Government and the toolkit for promoting productivity. Issues related to the tax rates applied to food products were discussed, observations and recommendations were presented. Next, the concept of improving the competitiveness of agriculture through land reforms was presented. It was noted that it is aimed at overcoming the problems of land fragmentation, low availability of irrigation water and financial resources, poorly developed infrastructure, and the complexity of the property transfer process. For this purpose, state support programs are already in place: creation of agricultural cooperatives, subsidizing interest rates on agricultural loans, etc. It is also planned to implement a pilot project in 4 settlements using land consolidation, support for legal documentation processes through an online platform, and other tools. The Prime Minister noted that the primary reason for the non-use of land is the lack of the land market, and the land reform should be primarily aimed at its formation. An exchange of ideas took place around the presented concept. The possible measures for the development of irrigation infrastructures, increasing the productivity of agriculture, increasing the level of land usability and options for solving existing problems were discussed. Summing up, Armenia's premier said, in particular: "We have agreed that the "Center for Economic Perspectives" Foundation, under the leadership of Mr. Javadyan, will organize, take an organizational role to carry out the work and communication of this council, which is very important. "We have, for example, many programs where we provide some movement but not the process. And I will not be ashamed to admit that the most vivid example of it is the digitalization agenda in the Republic of Armenia, when we recorded that in fact a lot of effort is being invested in the field of digitalization, huge resources have been spent in the last 20 years, and work has been done, but nothing has happened in terms of digitalization. We want to understand why so many resources have been spent, but in the field of digitalization, the Republic of Armenia is actually in a very initial situation. It turned out to be the same problem because we did not solve the horse, yoke and carriage issue. We decided to turn to expert assistance to understand how to transform the movement in that area into a process. And when the experts arrived, they were able to help us understand that, so to speak, there are guiding points or engines of the process, and we should pay more attention to those engines, which will ensure the further process. Even with much less effort, spending less resources, as a result of proper organization, we can ensure a fast process."
