The government of the Republic of Armenia aims to ensure protection, dignity, improved living conditions, justice for its citizens, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said as he presented the government program to the National Assembly today. The government is obliged to reveal the obstacles on the way of reaching the goals and find optimal solutions, he added.
“We have entered a new stage of regional developments, which envisages low paces of economic growth with our immediate economic partners, thus restricting the opportunities of rapid growth due to common trends. In this environment the current structure of the Armenian economy will not be able to ensure the pace of progress, which goes in line with our challenges, if standard approaches of development are applied,” the Prime Minister said.
“Today the government is tasked with obtaining a precise diagnosis of the system of governance and the state of economy, analyzing the most important issues and proposing both short-term measures and long-term reform programs,” he added. He informed that a “Center for Strategic Initiatives” comprising the leading specialists and experts from Armenia, Diaspora and abroad has been set up under the government to address the strategic questions.
Speaking about the strategic issues, PM Karen Karapetyan stressed that “defense and security” is number one challenge. “The military threats facing our country require an efficient, permanently improving and modernizing defense system enjoying the rust and support of the society.” He assured that the government would spare no means and efforts to neutralize the military threats facing Armenia and Artsakh, creating sufficient military capacities and maintaining military balance in the region.
Among other important issues the Prime Minister emphasized the implementation of the Constitution amended in 2015. He attached importance to measures ensuring to the development of democratic institutions, creation of confidence-building measures to raise the trust in political process and institutions. The Prime Minister said “the reforms should start from the government.”
According to him, elimination of corruption is the primary condition for the effectiveness of the state governance system. “We’ll promote the state-private cooperation to ensure better governance at the local level and reduce the corruption risks,” he added.
The Prime Minister said “the government pursues the ideology of liberalized economy and sees the perspectives of economic development in the growth of exports.” “Our primary goal is to ensure a free and fair competitive environment for business,” he added.
Karen Karapetyan noted that “the improvement of the business environment is a permanent process.” In this respect he attached importance to the monitoring, exposure and elimination of legal norms and practices hindering the economic activity.
The Prime Minister said tourism, development of modem infrastructures will also be in the spotlight. “The government will pursue the deepening of cooperation with the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,” he added.
PM Karapetyan stressed that “stable economic growth is the fundamental means for fighting poverty and unemployment.” “This is the reason why we emphasize the importance of forming free, fair and competitive economic conditions,” he added.
In the field of education and science, the government will aim to ensure high-quality education and an opportunity for obtaining practical knowledge for all. Special attention will be paid to children in rural areas.
According to the Prime Minister, the government will also pursue the maintenance of national cultural values, at the same time ensuring openness for adopting the best values of other cultures. It will also strive to maintain the unique nature of Armenia.
“Together we have to undertake the honored task of creating strong grounds for the long-term development of the country. Every day we’ll work together to take steps that will bring us closer to having a competitive, economically strong and fair Motherland based on national values,” the Prime Minister concluded.
