Ministry of economy expects Armenian IT sector to grow by 20% this year

YEREVAN, May 30. / ARKA /. The Armenian Ministry of Economy expects the IT sector to grow by 20% this year, a Deputy Minister of Economy, Garegin Melkonyan, told a press conference at Novosti International Press Center.

He said Armenia’s information technology industry has been growing 20 percent on average over the last years and the ministry expects this trend to continue.

He said there are now some 380 IT firms employing over 10,000 mostly well-paid specialists. Of them 159 are foreign-owned or representative offices of large international companies.  He said the IT industry accounts today for 3.8 percent of the national GDP.

"Active introduction of information technology at  the domestic market creates preconditions for the development of other sectors and the economy as a whole", Melkonyan said. 

In 2013 the sector posted a 20% growth and a 12% growth in exports.  According to an IT development strategy, its turnover is to surge to $1 billion by 2018. -0-