“Though the innovation economy in the Action Plan adopted by the Government of Armenia for 2003 is declared a priority direction, however, talking about substantial changes is still pretty early” so responded Ruzan Harutyunyan, Commercial Director of tabTEC innovation technology company, to the question of Aravot.am of what problems exist in the development process of innovative technologies in Armenia. According to the “Global Competitiveness” (GCI – Global Competitiveness Index) rating 2013-2013 report of World Economic Forum,Armenia ranks the 103rd in the region on innovative technologies, whereas Azerbaijan rank the 51st. To the question of what conclusions we can draw from this indicator, Ruzan Harutyunyan answered as follows, “Developing innovative technologies is a complex process, as it requires not only a serious financial investments, but also highly qualified specialists in the field of exact sciences, as well as relevant research institutes and huge production capacities.” As for Azerbaijan’s indicator, our interlocutor expresses doubts. “In the supposedly mentioned report, Azerbaijan’s index is due to its oil and gas resources and connections and leverages created on the account thereof. Such high indicator for Azerbaijan in the “Global Competitiveness” rating report casts a doubt, since this country was generally not found in the table of ranking of 50 innovative countries of the world published by “Bloomberg” agency, which was funded by not less authoritative and own resources.” The RA legislation also does not contribute to the development of innovative technologies. With this regard, Ruzan Harutyunyan said, “We can not definitely say that the adopted laws or regulations hinder the development of innovative technologies, at the same time, they do not also create favorable conditions to these companies in Armenia. The international experience has long proven that favorable legislation field is a boost for the development of the market, and this sector is able to greatly contribute to the paces of economic growth.” To our observation that lack of confidence is observed in Armenia in the field of technological innovation, and to the question of what challenges the tabTEC company is facing, the Commercial Director so responded, “Surely, there is a lack of confidence, which, perhaps is due to limited market and failed projects. Apparently, this is the reason that many companies who are willing to make investments and conduct activities in Armenia, become despaired and leave the country, and prestigious international companies, generally, do not see a market here. In fact, the atmosphere of mistrust is formed not only among the consumers but also the investors: by the indicators of last year, the investment in Armenia are decreased by more than 61%, which is an unprecedented phenomenon. Currently, tabTEC is making an attempt to introduce a limited kinds of electronic equipment that have been elaborated by the company, produced in Armenia and do not have their analog, and which provide a full protection of a system of any capacity under unstable power supply conditions in Armenia.
For the future, there are some pretty serious applications related to the development of innovative technologies in energy system and receiving of alternative energy. Difficulties are actually many. It is sad that there is almost no adequate support in Armenia by public and private institutions, as well as developed infrastructures and sustainable partnership.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
