YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. It is necessary that the interdepartmental working group set up by instruction of the Armenian president envisage the goals of the Armenian IT sector's being a leader at international level in the new concept on development of the IT sector, the executive director of the Union of IT Enterprises (UITE) Karen Vardanian expressed an opinion during a talk with NT correspondent. According to him, these goals should be pursued by the country's government in cooperation with the society and business circles. He pointed out the necessity of choosing those sectors of international IT market where Armenia can have a competitive advantage. The concept should also contain such measures and envisage the creation of such infrastructures that will ensure Armenia's leading position. K. Vardanian said that the economies of countries that have become IT sector leaders in the past 20-25 years (Germany, Japan, South Korea, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore) were different from the current Armenian economy by their charactetistics. In these countries, outflow of funds was reduced by administrative-command or legisltaive-market encouragement methods and the accumulated money was allocated for development of the high-tech sector. Besides, the indicated countries have brough the standards of their educational systems in line with highest international ones. "Graduates of Armenian higher educational institutions should be at least equal to graduates of the world's best universities by their knowledge and skills," K. Vardanian noted. He added that unlike Armenia, in these countries business has been considered by the government as a partner mobilizing the society in order to overcome serious challenges. In his words, the provisions on accumulation and allocation of financial resources, improvement of the quality of education, and cooperation between the state and business should be key provisions of the concept on development of the IT sector. The executive director of UITE expressed an opinion that the concept should be agreed on with all political forces of the country, which will ensure its continuous implementation.

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