Lack of qualified specialists remains the main problem of Armenia’s IT sphere

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Union of IT-Enterprises (UITE) of Armenia continues cooperation with the government to improve business atmosphere and to settle unsolved issues of tax and customs administration.

Mediamax reports that the Chairman of the Union Hovhannes Avoyan said this, speaking on February 21 in Aghveran at the forum of Heads of Armenia’s IT Companies.

Chief Executive Officer of UITE Karen Vardanyan pointed out to the attention of the government to IT sector, stressing that “if in 2008, the state budget provided for 100mln AMD for development of the sphere, in 2009 the figure already makes 250mln”.

Karen Vardanyan noted the necessity of abrupt increase of the number of qualified personnel in IT sphere, stressing the importance of close cooperation between employers and students. In the given context, idea was expressed concerning establishment of a consortium of IT-enterprises to found centers for retraining and certification.

Director of “Enterprise Incubator Foundation” Bagrat Yengibaryan informed that in 2007, 175 IT enterprises functioned in Armenia, 56 of which represented branches of foreign companies.

23% of companies deal with implementation of orders from abroad on elaborating program support (outsourcing).

“The general revenues of the Armenian IT sector in 2008 made $110mln, demonstrating average annual growth of 27% and making 1.2% of the GDP”, Bagrat Yengibaryan stated.

Bagrat Yengibaryan singled out the lack of qualified specialists and the insufficient volume of science-research works among the main problems of the IT sphere in Armenia.