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ARMENIA SET TO SIGN $235 MIL PACT WITH MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
March 14 2006
Agreement To Focus On Irrigation And Rural Roads.
By the end of 2006, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan
Oskanian and the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will sign
an agreement to allot USD 235.65 million from the U.S. Millennium
Challenge program.
The agreement, known as a compact, will distribute funds over a
5-year period for economic growth programs in Armenia. In a press
release announcing the Millennium Challenge Board of Directors'
approval of the agreement, the U.S. government corporation said,
"The Armenia Compact is focused on one goal: the reduction of rural
poverty through a sustainable increase in the economic performance
of the agricultural sector."
Out of the total sum USD 146 million is allocated for restoration
and modernizing irrigation systems. Another USD 67 million spent
to rehabilitate "Lifeline roads" that connect villages to larger
communities and market places. Approximately USD 5 million will be
used for monitoring and evaluation and another USD 17.8 million for
other administration, regnum.ru reports.
As part of the project, Armenia is designating its rural roads as
its Lifeline network. The Millennium Challenge assistance is to
rehabilitate one-third of this network, approximately 943 kilometers.
The organizers expect this will provide reliable transport routes to
85 villages and cover 45 percent of the country's rural area.
The Armenian government has shouldered the responsibility of
restoring the rest of the country's rural road system during the
current compact's 5-year lifespan. The government expects to utilize
state resources, financing from Kirk Kirkoryan's Linsy Foundation
and other institutional credits.
Currently over one million Armenians live in rural areas and are
dependent on semi-subsistence agriculture. Millennium Challenge in
Washington reports rural poverty remains high at 41 percent in 2004.
"Farmers are operating on small plots of land and are constrained
by poor roads, inadequate irrigation, and an under-developed market
economy," the corporation states.
The American side reports the program will directly impact
approximately 750,000 people, or 75 percent of the rural population,
and is expected to reduce the rural poverty rate and boost annual
incomes.
In autumn 2005, Georgia signed a compact worth USD 295.3 million
with Millennium Challenge. Other countries with signed compacts
include Madagascar, Honduras, Cape Verde, and Nicaragua. On March 2,
the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year USD 65.69
million compact with Vanuatu. One February 22, the corporation signed
a five-year approximately USD 307 million compact with the Government
of the Republic of Benin.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
March 14 2006
Agreement To Focus On Irrigation And Rural Roads.
By the end of 2006, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan
Oskanian and the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will sign
an agreement to allot USD 235.65 million from the U.S. Millennium
Challenge program.
The agreement, known as a compact, will distribute funds over a
5-year period for economic growth programs in Armenia. In a press
release announcing the Millennium Challenge Board of Directors'
approval of the agreement, the U.S. government corporation said,
"The Armenia Compact is focused on one goal: the reduction of rural
poverty through a sustainable increase in the economic performance
of the agricultural sector."
Out of the total sum USD 146 million is allocated for restoration
and modernizing irrigation systems. Another USD 67 million spent
to rehabilitate "Lifeline roads" that connect villages to larger
communities and market places. Approximately USD 5 million will be
used for monitoring and evaluation and another USD 17.8 million for
other administration, regnum.ru reports.
As part of the project, Armenia is designating its rural roads as
its Lifeline network. The Millennium Challenge assistance is to
rehabilitate one-third of this network, approximately 943 kilometers.
The organizers expect this will provide reliable transport routes to
85 villages and cover 45 percent of the country's rural area.
The Armenian government has shouldered the responsibility of
restoring the rest of the country's rural road system during the
current compact's 5-year lifespan. The government expects to utilize
state resources, financing from Kirk Kirkoryan's Linsy Foundation
and other institutional credits.
Currently over one million Armenians live in rural areas and are
dependent on semi-subsistence agriculture. Millennium Challenge in
Washington reports rural poverty remains high at 41 percent in 2004.
"Farmers are operating on small plots of land and are constrained
by poor roads, inadequate irrigation, and an under-developed market
economy," the corporation states.
The American side reports the program will directly impact
approximately 750,000 people, or 75 percent of the rural population,
and is expected to reduce the rural poverty rate and boost annual
incomes.
In autumn 2005, Georgia signed a compact worth USD 295.3 million
with Millennium Challenge. Other countries with signed compacts
include Madagascar, Honduras, Cape Verde, and Nicaragua. On March 2,
the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year USD 65.69
million compact with Vanuatu. One February 22, the corporation signed
a five-year approximately USD 307 million compact with the Government
of the Republic of Benin.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress