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As part of his working visit to the United States, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan attended the ArmTech Congress 2014, where he delivered a welcome speech.

Speech by President Serzh Sargsyan at ArmTech Congress 2014: Armenia’s global high-tech industry platform

Dear representatives of the technological community,
Dear guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to open Armenia’s 7th global high-tech industry forum ArmTech 2014 and to present you, the professional society, our achievements and challenges in this sphere. I attach great value to holding this forum periodically which provides ample opportunities to discuss, plan and carry out a policy aimed at preserving Armenia’s current economic and technological achievements. It allows discovering new business and investment opportunities, establishing new ties and a broad professional network, strengthening the existing business ties between Armenian and world’s IT and high-tech organizations. All this certainly raises Armenia’s rating as one of the most rapidly growing countries in this sphere.

In recent years Armenia has made substantial progress in the sphere of high technologies and has sustained an average 22-25 percent annual growth. Over the last years the volume of exports and investments has increased leading to geographical expansion and 60 percent export growth. There are more than 380 actively-operating organizations as a result of which working force grows 10 percent annually. Today that sphere embraces around 11000 specialists which is not a small number for Armenia. There is also considerable progress in influx of transitional organizations to Armenia which is testified by the presence of our international partners at ArmTech Congress.

Armenia is committed to continuously supporting sustainable development in the sphere of information technology and knowledge-based economy in general. With that end in view, we have established a RA Presidential Award for Outstanding Contribution to Humanity through IT in 2009. The award is annual and is conferred to people who have made an exceptional contribution to the sphere. For example, last year the award was conferred to President of Techno Vision and Chairman of Semiconductor Industry Association, former Hitachi CEO Tsugio Makimoto. This year the award was handed to Cisco Systems Chief Development Officer Mario Mazzola.

In the last 5 years the sphere of information technology has recorded a qualitative growth: Armenian companies have shifted their outsourcing orientation growing into organizations carrying out researches and development activities and offering complex engineering solutions. Armenian IT products, including those of startup companies are acquired by foreign organizations which stimulates Armenia’s attractiveness.

I am proud to state that today solutions developed by Armenian specialists are widely used by numerous organizations in different countries of the world. For example, various micro schemes are made in Armenia, countless leading banks have employed systems developed in Armenia, our specialists’ most complex and comprehensive engineering solutions are installed in management systems of oil-wells, gas mains, underground and overground transport in a number of countries, and this list is not complete.

For this reason a series of transnational organizations have established their research and innovation centers in Armenia. I would like to highlight particularly Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia, the regional offices of National Instruments, IBM, Oracle and D-Link which pay close attention to training of qualified IT specialties in Armenia, establishment of startup organizations and application of technologies in different economic spheres thereby raising the economic competitiveness of our country. It is gratifying that the mentioned centers are the biggest, but not the only, regional centers which gives Armenia ample opportunities to hold a leading position on the global technological map.

Of course, the cooperation with the Diaspora and the use of its potential in building Armenia’s technological future are one of the vital stimuli to develop the sphere of information technology in our country. I am sure that owing to our public policy in this sphere and the active support of our compatriots we will manage to ensure technological immigration to Armenia. Concluding my speech, I wish the forum meaningful and fruitful work and I am confident that, as always, it will mark establishment of new business ties and outline of new projects.