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Foreign investments in Armenia have decreased, Gagik Makaryan, chairman of Republican Union of Employers of Armenia, told reporters in Yerevan. Investments of $5 billion are required for the rehabilitation of Armenia’s economy, he added.

Republican Union of Employers of Armenia has calculated that investments of $2.5 billion have been made in Armenia since the declaration of Armenia’s independence, “but as you see, they created little opportunities.”

“Investments of at least $5 billion are required for our economy to return to the condition it was in back in the Soviet period. These investments should be distributed in a reasonable way,” Makaryan said.

We should not pin too much hopes on the CIS market, said the head of the Republican Union of Employers. As for entering European markets, it requires great responsibility, improvement of legislation, food security and good knowledge of psychology of European consumers, he stressed.

“We say that 48 percent of our overall foreign trade turnover is accounted for by the EU, the considerable part of it is accounted for by CIS countries, especially Russia, but we should find alternative sources,” Makaryan said, adding that in CIS markets we should prepare to enter European markets.

According to the head of Republican Union of Employers, the Armenian government should tighten the reforms and the fight against corruption before entering European markets. For this purpose, we need to revise our budgets, he stressed. For instance, we should bring GDP from $10-11 billion to $20 billion, he concluded.