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Tatul Margarian: Armenia enjoys excellent relations with US

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  • Tatul Margarian: Armenia enjoys excellent relations with US

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

    PanArmenian News Network
    July 18 2005

    18.07.2005 07:20

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ 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.
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