YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia intends to become a leader in IT markets and have a developed and advanced information society and a knowledge-based economy, the head of the IT department of the RA ministry of economy Zhenya Azizian said at the October 1 press conference. The concept of developing IT sector, which has been approved by the Armenian government, envisages creating information and communication technology infrastructures in line with the best international standards, and ensuring the entrance and presence of "Armenian IT trade marks" in international market. Z. Azizian pointed out the importance of conducting a definite targeted policy with this aim. According to her, for the purpose of developing the IT sector, an action plan has been prepared that includes measures on e-government, e-trade, investment encouragement and assistance to start-up enterprises. The director of "Enterprise Incubator" Foundation Bagrat Yengibarian stated that it is envisaged increasing the IT sector's turnover to a billion dollars by 2018 and creating more than 25 thousand jobs. "These are objectives, thanks to which Armenian economy will undergo great development, and this is possible only with state assistance," he underlined. In his words, over 120 IT companies currently operate in Armenia, with their turnover making 100 million USD a year.

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