YEREVAN, APRIL 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Microsoft company is conducting negotiations with several Armenian higher educational institutions on the issue of granting Microsoft certificates to graduates of the information and telecomunication sector. It is envisaged that the number of specialists with such certificates will reach a thousand by 2010. Director of Microsoft Corporation's Business Management and Strategy Center Paul Muckleston stated this during the conference "Microsoft Innovation Day" held in Yerevan's Marriott Hotel on April 10. According to his forecasts, the current number of computers in Armenia (about 130 thousand) will increase by another 20 thousand. It was mentioned that 5% of Armenian households have computers, which is a low index. P. Muckleston said that in the coming years the import of computers into Armenia will make 25 thousand a year, while 30-35% of households will have computers, which is important for development of knowledge-based economy. Microsoft's official considered the "very high educational level" of the Armenian population as a "powerful basis", noting that universities turn out qualified architects, physicists and mathematicians, who form a good basis for further entrance of foreign companies into the Armenian IT sector. In this connection P. Muckleston attached importance to political stability of Armenia and to sustainable economic growth registetred in the country in recent years. It was noted that Microsoft plans to invest 7 billion dollars in research. The company registers about a thousand patents annually. It has subsidiaries in 110 countries.

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