Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a working breakfast meeting with representatives of Armenia’s largest employers.
Welcoming the participants, the Prime Minister noted that the meeting brought together representatives of companies that have created the most jobs in Armenia and thanked them for their contribution. According to Pashinyan, since 2018 these companies have been responsive to government policies, and a total of 288,000 jobs have been created in Armenia. “But it is clear that we have not created those jobs—you have created them. Of course, government policies have contributed and created a certain environment. In our electoral program, we have included the goal of creating at least 25,000 jobs annually, which is very important,” he said, emphasizing the need to maintain this dynamic.
The Prime Minister also addressed the introduction of artificial intelligence in the economy, noting that it presents certain risks, including those related to employment. He stressed the importance of analytical and practical work in this direction to avoid potential problems. “We must understand what we need to do and in which directions we should cooperate in order to ensure the proper transformation of the labor market,” he said.
Pashinyan added that in recent years the government has spent billions of drams to ensure the modernization and productivity of the economy. In particular, he referred to the Economic Modernization Program, which has played a significant role in maintaining economic momentum. He noted that since 2018, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in 2020, Armenia has achieved an average economic growth of 7 percent. In this context, the Prime Minister thanked business representatives for contributing to economic growth.
The Prime Minister also spoke about universal health insurance and salary-related mechanisms aimed at increasing the number of beneficiaries. According to him, the system has been successfully launched, and employers play a key role in its implementation.
Addressing job creation incentives, Pashinyan referred to the government’s social policy, under which able-bodied individuals should ensure their livelihood through work. “The processes will follow this logic—we will guide a person toward employment. In the social assistance assessment system, a mandatory condition has been introduced: we must offer a person a specific job with a specific salary at a specific location. If the person fails to respond to the offer three times, we will assume that they have an income, because if a person has no income, why would they refuse a job? Of course, in this context, the most important factor is education and educational reform, so that we can support people in this regard,” he said.
Pashinyan emphasized that Armenia is entering a new stage of economic development, linked to the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We expect major developments in the near future, primarily related to the launch of the TRIPP project, which is significant in that it will finally lift Armenia out of the blockade. In fact, Armenia has already overcome the blockade, as freight transportation to Armenia through Azerbaijan is possible and is being carried out by rail. I also want to note that exports are possible by rail through Georgia, until we open the railway with Azerbaijan within the framework of the TRIPP project. This is very important, and the political agreement is that the railway will never be closed. That is, it will be a reliable route for both imports and exports,” he said.
Summing up, the Prime Minister noted that since 2018, Armenia’s GDP has grown by 53 percent in real terms, and the economy has reached a point where business-to-business, state-to-business, state-to-employee, and employee-to-employer relations must evolve in new ways. He highlighted the importance of the meeting for discussing such issues and hearing the views of business representatives.
“Once again, I would like to thank all of you for the changes that have taken place in our country, because there are sectors and companies whose role in the Republic of Armenia is difficult to overestimate. It is very important that these companies also bring a new mentality, new thinking, and a new culture to Armenia, which is in fact the most important capital, opening new spaces for entering new areas and fields of activity. I believe that today Armenia has horizons that it has never had in its history. Armenia has never had such an unprecedented period of opportunities. We need to be able to continuously make use of this situation. It is obvious that the Government cannot do this without key actors in the economy and the real sector. Beyond expressing gratitude today, I want to draw your attention to this situation—this is essentially my main message,” Pashinyan said.
The meeting also addressed a number of issues related to government steps aimed at economic development, the tools being introduced, the continuous improvement of the investment environment, the expansion of opportunities, and the resolution of existing challenges.
