YEREVAN, November 8. /ARKA/. Given Armenia’s current GDP, the amount of foreign investments in its economy should have been higher five times, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan said today when speaking at an international financial forum convened in Yerevan to look into alternative investments.

"We can say that 5 times less blood flows through the veins of our economy," Kerobyan said.

This is why according to the minister, one of the main goals of the ministry and the government is to find alternative sources of investments.

As an example, he named the Amber Capital Armenia investment fund whose assets grew to $60 million after government invested its own $7mln.

According to the National Statistical Committee of Armenia, foreign investments in January-June 2022 slashed to 41.03 billion drams from 132.7 billion drams in the same period of 2021.

Kerobyan said also that recent survey revealed that 74% of Diaspora Armenians are ready to invest in their ancestral land in one way or another.

"Forty-seven percent are ready to invest in government bonds, that is, people are more likely to consider options related to private investments," he said.

According to Kerobyan, on average, Armenians are willing to invest from  $7,500 to $150,000.

A draft bill designed by Armenian police would allow foreigners to become Armenian citizens in return for investing at least $150,000 - either by purchasing a real estate, government bonds and business assets. Other criteria include opening of an information technology company, benevolence, and significant contributions to Armenian culture, science or medicine.

According to Police, the number of applications for Armenian citizenship since Russia’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine has surged to 9,917 in the first half of this year, up from 3,448 such requests received in the year-earlier period. The bulk of the applicants are ethnic Armenian citizens of Russia.-0-