YEREVAN, December 14, /ARKA/. Gagik Makarian, the executive director of the Union of Armenian Businessmen and Industrialists, questioned today the capacities of Armenian small and medium companies to produce competitive products. Speaking at a news conference he said the majority of them work only ‘to make both ends meet’ by selling their goods at local markets.

In his words, only 9% of them are able to export their produces as the output of the rest is consumed at the local markets. Gagik Makarian singled also out the unequal competition problem saying it may be solved if small and medium companies optimize their own resources.

Samvel Gevorkian, director of the SMS Support Center, drew attention to disproportional development of the country saying all production capacities and intellectual potential are concentrated in the capital city Yerevan. In this context he also pointed out the increasing gap between Armenia and the rest of the world in terms of IT development and production of competitive goods and services.

‘We are slow to react to challenges, to pass new legislation and enforce reforms to solve these challenges,’ he said.

He said also a special attention must be paid to regions beyond Yerevan. Speaking about tourism industry he said the focus should be not only on specific infrastructures but on the entire chain of services – from ticket sale offices to marketing and hotels.  -0-