Armenia to develop high-tech manufacture and investment attraction due to free economic zone

YEREVAN, October 15. /ARKA/. Free economic zone will enable Armenia to develop high-tech manufacture and to attract investments, said Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin. 

“Also, due to the free economic zone Armenia will be able to create new jobs, which will meet demands of Armenian high-professional specialists, and we all know that Armenia is quite rich in this aspect,” Levitin said at the second Armenian-Russian interregional forum, kicked off in Yerevan on Saturday. 

On 2 February 2012 , Armenia’s government approved a free economic zone project on the territory of RAO Mars CJSC and Yerevan Research Institute of Mathematical Machines CJSC, as well as JSC Sitronics’ manager status application. Free economic zone will be processed in Armenia in November 2012.

Levitin underlined a long-century friendship between the countries, national interests as fundamental for partnership. 

Interregional cooperation expands collaboration between Armenia and Russia including small and medium-sized business, non-governmental sector, he added. 

Levitin also mentioned bilateral cooperation in legal sector, which is currently actively developing.

“I believe, the forum will confirm the importance of interregional cooperation format, and willingness of the both sides to enlarge the collaboration between the regions of our counties,” he added. 

The forum gathered over 300 representatives of the central and regional authorities, business, non-governmental organizations of Russia and Armenia, the delegation of Russia’s 13 regions, and all regions of Armenia. 

Following the forum, a final statement will be made. 

Free economic zone, which will be managed by Sitroniks company, will be rolled out on the area of over 100,000 square m, including, Mars plant with 77,000 sq. m area and Yerevan Research Institute of Mathematical Machines CJSC- 27,000 sq. m.

Free economic zone will expand over two directions- high-tech and new technology manufacture. Preliminary agreements are reached with several foreign IT companies from the USA, Iran, India and England. 

Export production is one of the mandatory conditions for a free economic zone formation. 

Sitroniks company, a high-tech concern in the structure of AFK Sistema, registered its subsidiary Sitroniks Armenia cjsc in Armenia in September 2009. The main tasks of the new company are to manage assets given by Rosimushchestvo under Sitroniks control in 2008, including RAO Mars, Yerevan Research Institute of Automated Control Systems, Yerevan Research Institute of Mathematical Machines, and manage the free economic zone on their territory. -0-