ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. The Feminno Cultural- Innovative platform has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE).  As part of the memorandum, the parties will cooperate to represent women and enhance their active participation in the 2024 World Congress on Information Technology WCIT2024/DigiTec.  The parties will direct their efforts to ensure that WCIT2024/DigiTec becomes a significant event representing Armenia as a leading center of innovation and women's leadership.  To recall: Yerevan will host the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) from October 4 to 7, 2024, under the theme "The Power of the Mind: AI Beyond Limits, Within Ethics".  The Congress will feature speeches by renowned speakers, including the author of the international bestseller "How to Raise a Successful Person" Esther Wojcicki, founder of the ABBYY Group David Yang, co-founder of Picsart Hovhannes Avoyan, CTO of TELUS Ibrahim Gedeon and others.  Participants will also enjoy panel discussions, B2B meetings, business and innovation exhibitions, seminars and other events. One of the important events will be the WITSA World Cup (WWC). In total, about 2 thousand delegates from more than 80 countries will visit Armenia.

ArmInfo. The banking system in the world is becoming more local.  That's how the Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia, Martin Galstyan, explained HSBC's exit from a number of countries, including Armenia, during a press conference on July 30.  "Global players, who after the collapse of the USSR considered this territory a large field for expansion, in my opinion, no longer think so. Everyone is returning to local jurisdictions," he said. As an example, Galstyan named such large players as HSBC and City Bank.  According to the head of the Central Bank, this is due to the fact that there are many risks in the Region, not only geopolitical, but also sanctions. Working in this Region has become extremely costly in terms of compliance and adherence to the rules of the game.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. To some extent, there is a downward trend in exports and imports in Armenia, despite the fact that the past year was specific in the context of re-exports.  Martyn Galstyan, Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, stated at a press conference on July 30, commenting on a study published days earlier, which noted that when removing the share of gold re- exports, Armenia's exports decrease by 15.6%, and imports by 10%. 

ArmInfo. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, a lower refinancing rate is necessary to continue to meet its price stability objective of ensuring an inflation rate of f4 percent over the medium term. This was announced by the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Martyn Galstyan, at a press conference on July 30. He presented the rationale for the regulator's decision to once again reduce the key rate by 0.25 percentage points to 7.75%.

ArmInfo. In the first half of the year, tax revenues paid by IT companies decreased. This is stated in a study by the Modex consulting company.  According to the source, in January-June 2024, 79 IT companies were included in the list of 1,000 major taxpayers, together provided  net income of AMD 45.9 billion for the state budget, which is AMD 123 million less than in the same period of 2023.  During the reporting period, IT companies included in the list of 1000 top taxpayers, collectively provided 4.4% of revenues controlled by the State Revenue Committee, instead of 4.8% for the same period last year.  79 IT companies together paid AMD 9.2 billion as profit tax, of which 12% or AMD 1.1 billion paid by Synopsys Armenia.  "8 out of the TOP-20 IT taxpayers showed a decrease in paid taxes, mainly in income tax, which is presumably due to the outflow of Russian IT specialists," - noted Haykaz Fanyan, director of the Modex consulting company, on a social network.  The decline was particularly strong in the case of Veeam Armenia, VMware, DataArt and EPAM companies.  The taxes for each company is calculated as the difference between the total amounts paid by the company to the state budget and the amounts returned to the unified account in terms of VAT and excise tax, Modex clarified.  It should be noted that a total of 1,000 major taxpayers in Armenia increased payments to the state treasury by 3% per annum in the first half of 2024, providing a volume of AMD 900.4 billion.

ArmInfo. The downward trend of sticky prices observed in Armenia, which have been high for a long time, is due to weakening of external demand. This was stated by Martyn Galstyan, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, during a press conference on July 30.  He explained that the decline in external demand is due to two factors. The first factor, according to the head of the Central Bank, is the decrease in tourist flow to Armenia and the decrease in expenses per tourist. The second factor, he said, is the outflow of foreign labor. "This concerns not only highly qualified personnel, but also low-skilled ones," Galstyan noted. Citing the latest data as an example (as of the end of May this year), the Chairman of the Central Bank added: "25% of labor migrants from India, who came to Armenia since the beginning of last year, have already left our country." In particular, he noted that at the peak  there were 17 thousand Indian citizens, decreasing to 11 thousand people by the end of May of the current year.  In connection with this situation, according to the Central Bank's forecasts,  the growth rate of the service sector is expected to slow in Armenia.  It should be noted that according to the Tourism Committee, 964 thousand tourists visited Armenia in January-June 2024, which is 4% lower than the figure for the previous year. Traditionally, the lion's share of tourists preferring to vacation in Armenia are citizens of the Russian Federation (41%), followed by tourists from Georgia (13%), Iran (7%), India (3%), the USA (2%), as well as from Ukraine, the Philippines, Germany, France, China (1% each). According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the annual growth in the services sector in January-June 2024 slowed sharply to 4.4% (from 16.8% in the same period of 2023), with a volume of 1.6 trillion AMD ($3.9 billion). At the same time, due to a sharp growth in the industrial sector, maintaining double-digit growth rates in the trade sector and construction, the energy sector emerging from recession into growth, and accelerating growth in the agricultural sector, economic activity remained in double-digit growth.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. The Council of the International Business Relations Support of Armenia has signed 3 agreements with two Chinese cities - Ningbo (a population of 3 mln people) and Changchun (15 mln people). This was stated by the Chairperson of the Council Mariam Manukyan, at a press conference on July 30.

ArmInfo. Since 2015, over 500 Armenian entrepreneurs have taken part in the Armenian-American business bridge program to stimulate bilateral ties, as a result of which the volume of their export supplies to the US market has increased by 73%. This was reported by the Chairperson of the Council for the Promotion of International Relations Mariam Manukyan during a press conference on July 30.

ArmInfo. The Central Bank of Armenia continues to reduce the refinancing rate - and this time by 0.25 percentage points - from 8% to 7.75%. This is the fifth reduction in the key rate this year, by a total of 1.5 percentage points (from 9.25% in December 2023).

ArmInfo. As a result of cooperation between the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) and the express delivery service , regulations were introduced regarding the terms of delivery of orders, guaranteeing the interests of consumers.

ArmInfo. USAID supports Armenia's energy sector as a vehicle for investment and economic growth, USAID Armenia reports on its Facebook account.

ArmInfo. Rosatom Service JSC, which is part of the electric power division of the Rosatom state corporation, installed witness samples in the reactor vessel of power unit No.  2 of the Armenian NPP.

ArmInfo. IDBank regularly speaks about the advantages that privileged service customers enjoy. They are progressively expanding and adapting to international standards. We discussed this with Lida Safaryan, Head of Premium Banking Services, Commercial Director and Vice President of IDBank.

ArmInfo. A series of agricultural initiatives are set to launch this year as part of the Sustainable Inclusive Growth in Mountainous Armenia (SIGMA) project. The line-up includes an educational, scientific, and industrial beekeeping centre in the Lori region, a seed cleaning and treatment centre for cereals and legumes, and a cold storage facility in Gegharkunik. The SIGMA project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It is implemented by DAI Global UK (DAI) and its branch in Armenia, in cooperation with AMPERA Consulting Company as a local partner. SIGMA aims to reduce poverty and inequality in the mountainous settlements of Armenia through inclusive, innovative, and environmentally friendly approaches. The project partners with private companies to co-invest in the development of agriculture and rural tourism in Armenia.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. Armenia will take part in the 7th China International Import Expo 2024 - CIIE, which will be held from November 5 to 10 in Shanghai. The exhibition is held to promote the sustainable development of small and medium businesses. This is stated in a statement by the Armenian Ministry of Economy.

ArmInfo. So far, two companies have become beneficiaries of the state program to promote the issue of equity (shares) and debt (bonds) securities, as well as passing credit ratings. By the end of 2024, 2-3 more participants may join them. Hasmik Zakaryan, Head of the Department for the Development of Financial Infrastructures of the RA Ministry of Economy, spoke with an ArmInfo about the terms of the state program to promote the development of the capital market, as well as its prospects.