TSAKHKADZOR, FEBRUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. "Kamurj 2009" ("Bridge 2009") international economic forum took place in Tsakhkadzor on February 21-23. The 6th forum was entitled "The Prospects of International Economic Cooperation. Problems and Solutions". The RA prime minister Tigran Sargsyan, the minister of economy Nerses Yeritsian, the minister of finance Tigran Davtian, ambassadors accredited to Armenia, as well as about 300 businessmen from Russia, Iran, Bulgaria and other countries took part in the event. T. Sargsyan said that what is going on today in the world is considered as a chaos so new ideas are necessary to regulate the economy. The job cuts, freezing of construction, worsening of the social conditions of citizens are worrying. In his opinion, remittances sent to Armenia will also show a tendency to decline as a result of the crisis. The prime minister underlined that the first positive fact for Armenia is stabilization of macroeconomy. "We can state once again that our banks have no problems with capitalization and liquidity which means that this year we should also use this advantage and allocate additional financial resources to this system," he said. In his words, the banking system should be used to reduce the negative impact of the global crisis. He pointed out the necessity to use the opportunities created by the crisis and eliminate the shortcomings. He announced that they applied to Russia, international organizations with the request to provide new credits to Armenia. New big regional projects will be implemented soon, including the project of the new nuclear power plant's construction, which is of both economic and political significance. "Both our strategic partners and neighbors who want to take part in this project are interested in it. We are interested in Russia's and Turkey's participation in it. We are open to negotiations," T. Sargsyan stated. As regards the Diaspora, the prime minister noted that everything possible should be done to use its great potential. "We have a task of creating institutions to unite Armenia and the Diaspora," he noted, stressing the necessity to identify those advantages which will make Armenia attractive. In his words, the global crisis has had a negative impact on the economy of any country, even any remote village, and the problem is how much each country will be able to overcome the negative consequences of the crisis. "Our aim is that these temporary difficulties will allow us to correct the mistakes of the previous years, identify our strengths and take measures so that the society and business will be able to benefit from the crisis," T. Sargsyan said. According to him, the monetary policy and the tax and budgetary one should be balanced, and the major goal should be ensuring macroeconomic stability, which is a favorable condition for sustainable macroeconomic growth. The prime minister said that an agreement on allocation of a 525 million dollar credit was reached with the World Bank. Efficient cooperation has been established with the Asian Development Bank as well. Special attention will be paid to the crediting of small and medium business, and money provided by the EBRD will be mainly spent on the private sector's assistance. "We should also receive credit resources from Russia and use them to promote economic growth," the prime minister stated. T. Sargsyan informed those present that the All-Armenian Bank will start operating this year. State investments will make 20 billion drams (about 65.5 mln USD) in the bank's capital. Besides, the bank can attract financial resources from other sources, including the private sector.

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