“Achilles’ Heel” for export
Armenian exporters' "Achilles' Heel" is having the quality of products meet international standards.
According to President of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (Employers) Arsen Ghazaryan, that is why Armenian businessmen face numerous obstacles in European markets.
The programs on forming an industrial policy based on export, improving the investment environment and developing the economy were discussed during today's joint session held by the advisory board of the RA Ministry of Economy and the RA Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (Employers).
According to Arsen Ghazaryan, any resource from state and international organizations should be geared toward that sphere for speedy introduction of the international standardization and certification. Arsen Ghazaryan believes that the quality of food and independent international expertise should be viewed as primary.
RA Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan announced that one of the primacies of the government is the creation of a strategy on the industrial policy aimed at exporting. "Armenia's domestic market is quite small and that is why the size of production and investments must be directed toward the foreign market," said the Minister.
According to Minister Davtyan, the legislation is quite liberal in terms of exports and all types of taxes have been removed, including VAT and the accise tax, except for the export of products of double and strategic significance.
As far as free trade regimes are concerned, Tigran Davtyan mentioned that the government is holding talks on creating a common free trade zone in the CIS territory.
Head of "Clear Metal" OJSC Genik Karapetyan told "A1+" that the company has been exporting 100 million dollars worth of products to the European markets a year for the past 14-15 years. "We avoid working with the CIS since it is not too desirable. They try to be "clever", but we want to work legally."
