September 15 — October 15 . Yerevan . IT Month

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The Government of the Republic of Armenia attaches great importance to the continued development of a dynamic and innovative economy that will drive future growth of the country. Of critical importance is increasing Armenia's competitiveness, including enhanced productivity and penetration of export markets; development of innovative management, scientific-educational, health care, and cultural systems; and full utilization of the country's skilled and creative work force. The continued development the Information and Communication Technology sphere in Armenia, as a growth industry itself, and because it supports all other spheres of the economy, is key towards meeting these objectives.

Since 2000, the Government of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has identified the sphere of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as fundamental for the development of economy and is implementing consistent and detailed work to maintain and increase the development of this sphere.

In 2001 an IT Development Support Council was formed by the Prime Minister of RA in order to facilitate public-private dialogue. The council task groups address legal and strategic issues facing the industry and promotes the formation of an IT society. The success of this council and other projects in the IT development in Armenia is evidenced by the entrance of large international companies such as Synopsys, Lycos, Microsoft, and Alcatel in Armenia. Meanwhile the implementation of large-scale projects jointly with SUN Microsystems, Intel, Hewlett Packard and other companies is in the preliminary stage.

Concrete evidence of the Armenian IT sphere's high international standards was the success of the official delegation of RA, headed by the Prime Minister while participating at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia during November 2005, where the Armenian company "ITE" was awarded with two prizes. In October of the same year the first international exhibition on ICT in Armenia- Digitec 2005- was very successful.

According to research by trusted international organizations, preliminary indicators for the IT sector in 2004-2005 show a 10% increase of export of IT companies, a 5% increase of the number of IT companies, a15% increase of the sphere's profitability, and a 5% increase in the number of job openings. About 120 companies, among which 30% have significant foreign capital, work in the IT sphere in Armenia. The production volume is estimated to be approximately 55-60 million U.S. dollars, and about 80% of the production is exported. The share of the IT in GDP is approximately 1.7% and the volume of foreign investment in 2005 exceeded 10 million US dollars. The achievements registered in recent years indicate that Armenia has great potential for becoming a regional center of IT.

In recognition of the importance of IT for Armenia's continued success, the Prime Minister of RA has declared "Information Technologies Month" from September 15th till October 15th, 2006. The aim of IT Month is to present the existing achievements of the public and private sector in the IT sphere, to assist and promote the continuous investment by foreign companies in the Armenian market, as well as to give new opportunities to the local companies towards entering the foreign markets.

In result it is expected that the IT Month will be a good start for the new phase of development, and IT sphere as a principal branch of economy will be one of the leaders for the development of the whole economy of Armenia.