Representatives and economists from Armenia, Georgia and Russia gave speeches during the “General Future” regional conference held by the Armenian branch of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). The regional investment field and the possible courses to take in order to attract investors were discussed during the conference. The foreign businessmen appreciate the fact that Armenia gives foreigners the opportunity to work in Armenia.
Clarification of the legislation and independent courts
There are some problems concerning the creation of a helpful investment field in Armenia. T. Samuelyan is certain that we need to clarify and translate our legislation. Very often, the investor gets confused and can not understand the legislation translated from Armenian to English, or he or she can simply not trust the legislation because, after all, “each letter of a law is law”. Of course, it seems as though this is not a big problem, but in reality, this is just like the “customer is always right” principle used in market relations. T. Samuelyan, as well as others present at the conference, believe that it is a priority to create independent courts because that way foreign investors will feel secure and defended. For example, the representative from Georgia stated that not one subject-private economic sector- had won the case even against the government. President of the National Assembly Artur Baghdasaryan talked about the serious problems facing Armenia’s judicial system. Baghdasaryan added that people living in the U.S. consider this as a major problem for attracting investors to Armenia.
Bureaucratic process
One of the obstacles that one faces when starting a business is bureaucracy. This is a major problem in Russia. The main reason for this is the problem facing all countries-corruption. The high level of corruption continues to stay at the same level in Russia. The Russian representative stated that the countries in the region “have to pay a bribe even for free services”. However, according to president of the “AmCham” branch in Georgia Fadi Ashli, corruption has weakened in Georgia, particularly in the loops of the authorities. Ashli claims that the reason for this is because the state increased salaries and he brought the example of bureaucracy. In Georgia, registering any type of organization only takes 2-3 days.
While talking about the investment field in Georgia; F. Ashli stated that foreign investors “feared” the presence of bank inspectors in the country. This structure takes advantage of its powers sometimes and people get the impression that everything is solved through the use of weapons in Georgia. By studying the “poor” financial condition of the taxpayers and finding out how much they are able to pay, the bank investigators go to the companies in large groups and this whole process gets talked about in the press and television in order to scare other economic subjects. Ashli believes that the state must ameliorate conditions so that business can grow and then it can demand: “You can’t milk a cow for 24 hours; sometimes it needs to be pasteurized.” In addition, the Georgian branch of “AmCham” is a member of the Business Management council due to its progress in business.
Political situation
While discussing the role that Turkey plays in the Caucasus region, international relations specialist from Washington Richard Giragosyan stated that the European Union is admitting Turkey into the union based on the interests of the countries in the regions and it will provide national security. After all, Turkey will be obligated to start trading with its neighboring country Armenia by becoming a member of the union. However, not everyone present at the conference shared the same opinion about Turkish-Armenian cooperation. Turkish representative Akif Ishik believes that it is time for both countries to do business together, but T. Samuelyan is certain that the dialog between the two countries is unrealistic because there are still many problems which remain unsolved. By looking at the American business perspective, the president of the Armenian branch of “AmCham” Edit Khachatryan believes that the Turkish-Armenian border must be opened. In response to the advice given by Mr. Ishik in regard to opening the border, E. Khachatryan said: “Armenia has no prerequisite; Turkey is the one who does not want to open the border. It would be nice if you gave that same advice to the Turkish government and businessmen so that they could start taking steps leading to that.”