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On 29 May 2014, the Agreement on the formation of the EAEU was signed in Kazakhstan. Based on the decision made by the RA about 9 years ago, there have been significant achievements in the framework of the country’s economic activity at least in recent years. It was mentioned at the sitting of the NA Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration on May 29.

“The fact of 12.6% economic growth of the RA in 2022, which was the highest among the EAEU countries, was recorded once again at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held recently in Moscow. During these difficult realities of history, despite all the problems, today’s Government and political majority manage to make the lives of Armenian citizens improve year by year. Now, the economic situation in the RA and the administration method allow us to believe that we will have a higher economic growth year after year,” the Deputy Chair of the Committee Vagharshak Hakobyan mentioned.

On the agenda of the meeting was the issue of promoting the increase of labor productivity in the EAEU with innovative, digital content, in the context of the development of the export-oriented industry.

The RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan noted that the economic growth recorded in the RA is primarily the result of the reforms that the current Government has been implementing for nearly five years, and the steps taken in the direction of improving and liberalizing the business environment are giving their results, as well as underlining the competitive advantage of Armenia the Eurasian Economic Union. According to the key rapporteur, labor productivity in Kazakhstan and Russia is approximately 12.6 dollars per person/hour, in Armenia and Belarus - 8.6-9 dollars per person/hour, in Kyrgyzstan - 3 dollars per person/hour. Compared to the developed countries of the world, the RA has indicators with great potential for growth, which, according to the Minister, will be overcome by 2024.

Vahan Kerobyan noted that the Government’s target in the field of process industry is to increase the manufacturing industry-GDP ratio to 15%. In 2022, it was 11.4%, but at the same time it was recorded that in 2022, the process industry achieved a fairly significant growth of more than 11%. According to the Minister, the growth of the process industry in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year was 8.2%. However, regardless of everything, the main stimuli of economic growth are high-tech, financial, as well as trade and service sectors. And in this case, ensuring an equally high growth of the process industry is already an important achievement and continues to increase.

Vahan Kerobyan stated that the Economy Modernization Programme is one of the main programmes of labor productivity and the development of the process industry, under which companies have purchased equipment worth about 100 billion drams in one year, out of which about 57% are companies of the process industry. “Today’s target is to achieve high productivity thanks to the modernization of companies, which will allow to be more competitive and attract larger markets, both in Armenia and outside Armenia,” Vahan Kerobyan said.

The Minister informed that the other component of the programme aimed at labor productivity is the involvement of highly qualified specialists in the Armenian companies. By the end of the first quarter of 2023, applications for more than 300 highly qualified specialists have been accepted and approved.

According to the other paragraph of the programme, a three-phase subsidy is planned for Armenian companies in the field of digital transformation. In the first phase, consulting, then investment and finally success “cashback” programmes are designed. The next paragraph is absorption and application of scientific innovations by Armenian companies.

The RA Deputy Minister of High-tech Industry Avet Poghosyan noted that a university-private sector cooperation for training specialists is planned, which is financed by the RA Ministry of Economy in the amount of 310 million drams. The aim of the programme is to train specialists in the high-tech industry. The cooperation mainly targeted the National Polytechnic University of Armenia.

The Head of the Digitization Department of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry Arshak Kerobyan presented the digitization process, noting that it is being implemented on the basis of the RA digitization strategy adopted in 2021, as well as through the information systems management board created in 2022. It was also noted that the Ministers of Economy, Justice, Finance, State Revenue Committee of the RA, and the Governor of the Central Bank are part of the Council. Armenia Information Systems Agency fund was also established.

The rapporteurs also responded to the questions of the deputies.

The Committee debated the second issue of the agenda, the current problems of control of the safety of food exported from the Republic of Armenia to the markets of the EAEU member states, compliance with the requirements of technical regulations, in a closed format.