Month: October 2008

ARMENIA NEEDS SPECIAL EXHIBITION HALLS: LOGOS EXPO CENTER

ARKA
Oct 7, 2008

YEREVAN, October 7. /ARKA/. Armenia badly needs specialized exhibition
halls, said Ara Stepanyan, director of the LOGOS Expo Center.

"I think Armenia should have more exhibition rooms. It is a serious
problem, as we have to use the RA Government’s conference hall,
Dom-Moskvi in Yerevan and Dinamo Stadium for our expos," he added.

Lack of exhibition halls hinders expansion of local business, according
to Stepanyan. He said LOGOS Expo had raised the issue many times,
trying to direct the government’s attention to the problem.

"Almost all the countries and big cities have about 5,000 square meters
long exhibition halls," Stepaynan said, stressing the importance of
developing Armenia’s expo industry.

According to Martin Sargsyan, chairman of the RA Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, an exhibition hall will be built in Yerevan’s Shengavit
district soon.

Some companies are ready to make investments in the project,
Stepanyan added.

The project’s feasibility study has shown construction of the new
exhibition hall will cost some $12mln.

Touching upon local expo market, the director of the LOGOS EXPO Center
said the best way to boost Armenian industry and economy is to promote
them in the global market.

Established in 1999, the LOGOS EXPO Center is a leader in organizing
sectoral, industrial, national and international exhibitions and
congresses.

The center annually organizes 10-12 expos in Armenia and abroad. Around
1,000 local and overseas organizations and companies enroll in the
exhibitions.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PM: ESTABLISHMENT OF GOOD NEIGHBOR RELATIONS WITH ALL COUNTRIES OF THE REGION AND FIRST OF ALL WITH AZERBAIJAN IS CRUCIAL FOR ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-10-07 19:10:00

ArmInfo. The establishment of good neighbor relations with all
countries of the region and first of all withAzerbaijan is crucial
for Armenia, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said in an
interview to Day.az.

The border with Turkey has been closed for 15 years. In the last
decade Armenia’s economy has been actively growing. So, we need to
understand what is really crucial for Armenia.

Armenia shows pragmatic attitude as it realizes that today competition
among countries is turning into competition among regions and
cooperation in the Caucasus will shortly become point N1 for all the
countries of the region.

In this context, Armenia is interested in Turkey-proposed Stability
and Security Platform.

Armenia has always said that it is ready to establish diplomatic
relations with Turkey with no preliminary conditions. It seems that it
simply benefits somebody to misinterpret this situation, Sargsyan said.

AMERICAN EXPERTS DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO ‘COORDINATE’ WORK OF TEMPORARY PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION, THEY CAN ONLY GIVE ADVICE AND ASSESS ITS ACTIVITY, DEPUTY FROM ARFD SAYS

ArmInfo
2008-10-07 19:01:00

ArmInfo. American experts have arrived in Armenia to exchange
experience with representatives of temporary parliamentary commission
to clarify the 1-2 March events in Yerevan, member of the commission,
secretary of ARF Dashnaktiutyun parliamentary faction Artyusha
Shahbazyan told ArmInfo correspondent.

He also added one can find commoness as well as differences if
to compare the terrorist act on 11 September 2001 in New York and
the March events in Yerevan. ‘Commoness is that mass crimes were
committed in New-York as well as in Yerevan and the commissions have
to represent to the society the true events and how the actions of
the parties were lawful’, – he said.

Shabazyan said that the commission has worked quite openly with media
so far. ‘We put the proposals by opposition and media representatives
on the agenda of the commission. We followed the publications in
newspapers on the topic’, he said. He said another 2 meetings with
American experts are planned. ‘I think that the meeting and exchange
of experience will be very useful for the interim parliamentary
commission’, the parliamentarian said.

He underlined that American experts arrived in Armenia 7 days ago. In
addition, Shahbazyan said the experts have no right to coordinate the
work of the interim commission they can only give advice and assess
its activity.

INTERIM PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION IS READY TO HEAR ALL PEOPLE WISHING TO TESTIFY ON MAR EVENTS

Arminfo
2008-10-07 18:56:00

ArmInfo. The interim parliamentary commission for investigation of Mar
1-2 events in Yerevan is ready to hear all people wishing to testify
on this case, says the member of the commission, representative of
ARFD Artyusha Shahbazyan.

The radical opposition questions the expedience of the commission
and says that it is just imitating investigation. So, there is no
possibility for cooperation with them.

Shahbazyan says that the Armenians are a national that cannot
testify. This is due to their mentality. Some of the witnesses do
not wish to speak about the events claiming that their presence at
the scene was just a coincidence.

HEAD OF OSCE YEREVAN OFFICE: ARMENIA RANKS THE 150TH IN THE WORLD BY INDEX OF PAYING TAXES

Arminfo
2008-10-07 19:08:00

ArmInfo. Armenia ranks the 150th in the world by the index of paying
taxes, say the data of Doing Business-2009 ranking, Head of OSCE
Yerevan Office, Ambassador Sergey Kapinos told media Tuesday. As
regards tax reforms approved by the Government of Armenia, Ambassador
Kapinos said that unawareness of the small and medium-scale enterprises
in Armenia of tax legislation of Armenia makes the country vulnerable
against corruption risks. Just for this purpose, he said, OSCE Yerevan
Office jointly with the National Center for SME Development in Armenia
issued a guidebook on tax reforms for businessmen (20,000 copies). The
more businessmen will know the less space will remain for corruption
risks, the Ambassador said.

As regards Doing Business rating, S. Kapinos said the index of paying
taxes must be in the focus of attention since Armenia seriously yields
to other states. In general Armenia ranks the 44th but the low index of
paying taxes make seriously thinking over the necessity of improving
the tax administration. One of the key efficiency factors of the
latter is awareness of business-sectors of reforms, S. Kapinos said.

THE DAMAGE TO THE ARMENIAN ECONOMY AS A RESULT OF THE KNOWN EVENTS IS ABOUT 670 MLN DOLLARS

Arminfo
2008-10-07 19:05:00

ArmInfo. According to our accounts the damage to the Armenian economy
as a result of the known events is about 670 mln dollars, Armenian
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan said in an interview with Day.Az.

‘The conflict was a serious test on stability of Armenian
economy. Today we can say that over the last years stability of the
economy of our country has risen sharply. The population have not
practically felt goods delivery cease’, – he said.

At the same time the prime minister said that such conflicts cannot but
affect the neighbouring states especially Armenia which has limited
transport ways. ‘About 70% of Armenian foreign commodity circulation
is via the territory of Georgia. But all the systems of life support
were functioning in the ordinary regime. Over the two days we fixed
petrol queues which in fact were more the result of the panic mood’,
– Sarkisyan said.

ORANGE SA: TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET OF ARMENIA HAS A POTENTIAL FOR EXPANSION FIRST AND FOREMOST DUE TO NEW SERVICES

Arminfo
2008-10-06 22:22:00

ArmInfo. The telecommunication market of Armenia has a potential for
expansion, Director for International Business in Europe and Eurasia
of Orange SA company (France Telecom’s branch) Jean-Michel Serre told
ArmInfo correspondent. According to him, the Armenian market can be
expanded due to not only the subscribers’ base, but also new services,
particularly, cellular communication with wideband internet.

To recall, Orange SA operates in 23 countries. The total volume of the
company’s investments in these countries totalled 7 bln EUR in 2007,
(approximately 30% of the total profit), 900 mln of them were spent
on research.

EU MISSION KICKS OFF IN GEORGIAN-SOUTH OSSETIAN CONFLICT ZONE

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2008 13:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union’s Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in
Georgia became operational, with the first observers entering the
buffer zone around South Ossetia to monitor the ceasefire between
Russia and Georgia.

The EU mission aims to stabilize the region and ensure compliance
by Georgia and Russia with a peace plan brokered by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU presidency.

The force is of over 350 unarmed observers, in armored vehicles,
from 22 EU member states. They will have to monitor the movements of
around 800 Russian soldiers holding some 18 positions, and cover some
rough country.

INTERNATIONAL TALKS ON SOUTH CAUCASUS DUE IN GENEVA OCT. 15

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2008 13:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ International talks on the South Caucasus will open
in Geneva on Oct. 15.

As a representative of the French Foreign Ministry told
PanARMENIAN.Net, the leadership of three international organizations,
namely the OSCE, UN and EU, will hold a meeting a day earlier to
consider some cooperation issues.

"The problem of refugees and displaced persons will be in focus of the
talks. However, any other topic may be included in the agenda, with
agreement of the sides. Participation of Abkhazian and South Ossetian
representatives is still being discussed. EU Special Representative
Pierre Morel, tasked with the organization of the meetings, continues
consultations," the French MFA official said.

TURKISH FACTOR ENERGIZING CONDITIONED BY CAUCASUS CRISIS CONSEQUENCES

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2008 14:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Energizing of the Turkish factor in the region is
apparently conditioned by tensions that followed the Caucasus crisis,
Russia’s Foreign Minister said.

"Our aim in South Ossetian operation was to defend the civilians and
peacekeepers and it was achieved. We took the essential measures,"
Sergei Lavrov said.

"However, the problems Armenia experienced in this crisis,
specifically the interruption of the cargo transportation, demand
soonest resolution. And these problems will persist as long as South
Ossetia and Abkhazia are in danger of attack," he said.

"Resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is extremely important
for Armenia. It will offer a possibility to normalize relations with
Turkey and receive an outlet to the world," he added.

Turks caught the unique moment that allows them to specify their
position in the region, according to Lavrov.

The Caucasus Stability and Cooperation initiative is the evidence of
proficiency of Turkish diplomacy. Such a combination of factors can
help resolution of the Karabakh conflict," the Russian FM said in an
interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.