TATUL MARGARIAN: ARMENIA ENJOYS EXCELLENT RELATIONS WITH U.S.

A. Armenia enjoys excellent relations with the United States, which are deeply rooted in our shared values and principles, Armenian Ambassador to the US Tatul Margarian when asked by Armenpress news agency to comment on the current status of U.S.-Armenian relations. “Our task is to further enhance the already high level of cooperation and partnership with the United States to the mutual benefit of our nations and in order to meet the challenges that the international community now faces. Since the restoration of its independence in 1991, Armenia has had many achievements in building democratic institutions and civil society, a representative form of government, and a free-market economy. We appreciate greatly the enormous political, moral, and humanitarian support that the United States has extended under the Freedom Support Act, and which helped Armenia to sustain an independent statehood and implement democratic, legal, and economic reforms. The many institutionalized meetings and consultations between the Governments of our countries, such as U.S.-Armenia Economic Task Force, U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialog, Bilateral Defense Consultations, provide a framework for dialog on bilateral political, security, and economic cooperation. Bilateral visits play an important role, and this year we have already had a visit by the Foreign Minister, and the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly, and the Defense Minister will visit later this year. U.S.-Armenia Task Force and U.S.-Armenia strategic dialog meetings will be conducted in Washington later this year”, he said. As for the level of the Armenian-American economic cooperation, T. Margarian noted that since 1992, the level and scope of U.S. assistance programs have changed from providing humanitarian assistance to mostly focusing on economic development and democratic and legal reforms, reflecting the significant progress made by Armenia in these areas. “Armenia’s economy is now more efficient, diversified, than those of its neighbors. According to Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, Armenia ranks higher in index of economic freedom than any other country in Eurasia and most of Eastern Europe. Armenia’s inclusion as a potential recipient of the Millennium Challenge Account funds is a testimony to Armenia’s ability to rule justly, promote economic freedom, and invest in people. The MCA funds and continued U.S. assistance to Armenia will advance the objectives of poverty reduction and promotion of economic growth, thus helping to unleash the creative potential of the Armenian people. The appropriate Congressional subcommittees have already voted to markup assistance to Armenia at the same level in 2006 as it was this year. Equally important was maintaining parity in Congressional allocation of military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan. Also, U.S. will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh. The United States is among Armenia’s top five trading partners, and over the last 5 years, the exports of Armenian products to the United States have grown significantly. Earlier in 2005, Armenia was granted the Permanent Normal Trade Relations regime by the United States. At the same time, the level of U.S. investments in Armenia is not high compared with the existing potential. Therefore, promotion of trade and investment will be an important priority. Most U.S. investment to Armenia went into Armenia’s hospitality and IT industries, particularly software manufacturing. Most of Armenia’s software companies are geared towards the U.S. markets. Many hotels in Armenia are now operated by Armenian-American investors, and this has helped raise the standards and promote competition in this important industry. There are also numerous small- and medium-scale Armenian-American entrepreneurs who own businesses in Armenia, or engage in export and import operations. Nevertheless, the prevailing model for U.S. investment in Armenia has been foreign direct investments, or personal involvement of the entrepreneur or manager. During my meetings many express willingness to take advantage of the economic opportunities in Armenia, but the main limitation is that potential investors are unable, due to lack of time or career considerations, to move to Armenia to personally run their businesses. Therefore, in order to attract more American investment to Armenia, there is a need for new mechanisms, vehicles such as venture capital funds, investment companies, etc.”, he said, Armenpess reports.