YEREVAN, November 4. /ARKA/. Armenia will end this year with 3.8% to 4% economic growth, Vardan Ayvazyan, chairman of the National Assembly’s economic committee, said Thursday at a news conference.

In the 2010 government budget, economic growth is projected at 1.2%.

Speaking about the next year’s economic growth, he said that it is thought to be higher than the 4.6% projected in the 2011 draft budget.

Answering to ARKA New Agency, Ayvazyan said that construction, agriculture, industry consumer sectors ensured economic growth to the country between 2001 and 2008.

“Today we should diversify our economic structure,” he said. “In particular, economic growth would be higher in 2010, if the agriculture sector faced no precipitous downturn due to some factors, including bad weather.”

Among segments able to contribute to the country’s GDP growth, Ayvazyan singled out services and mining.

“I am convinced that the mining industry will enjoy a precipitous growth, since the current increase in world prices for metals will bring investments to this sector,” he said.

The lawmaker also said that diamond-cutting, jewelry, IT and processing industries are among the government’s top-priority focuses.

“One of the country’s most important objectives is to form an export-oriented economy,” he said. -0--