The year-end is a time when we summarize all that has happened
throughout the year. The media tries to do that by the demand of the
society. It is much easier to make a summary about the social/political
life, than it is for the economic. The reason for this is that the
statistics for economy are ready three months after the New Year-at a
time when there no longer is a demand to talk about the economy. Now we
have the entire image of the country’s economy as of November 1. It
gives us the opportunity to picture and analyze the economy as a whole.
Official statistics show that our economy is growing and proves that it
has been rising due to two fields-construction and agriculture. Both
construction and agriculture show a 14% rise respectively. The
tendencies for rise in construction are overwhelming. The authorities
are pleased to see the rise in both fields. For me personally, it is a
little strange to see the authorities getting excited about
agriculture. Agriculture in Armenia reminds me of the book called
“Spain without a backbone” by Jose Ortega. In his book, Ortega writes
that the village life has turned into something that characterizes
social life in Spain. People’s thoughts and feelings are all connected
to the values and flaws of that lifestyle. “In Sevilla (a city that has
a 3,000 year old history) you will never find a real citizen.” I
recalled this phrase not to refer to us, saying that you can’t find one
real citizen in the authority elite. The country’s official analyses of
economy, according to Ortega, are “littered with the village spirit.”
It is that spirit that spreads and, according to the Minister of
Agriculture, will exceed the level of economy of that of 1989. That is
why no minister is interested in the result of the inner economy. No
official pays any attention to the fact that agriculture is rising 14%,
but industry is at 1.5%. Nobody sees anything unusual about this, so
why even bother changing it? It has gotten to the point where a 7th
grade student already knows that the level of urbanization shows signs
of development in the country. The student also knows that agrarian
countries are considered weak or deformed. I don’t recall any official
naming our country as agrarian. Meanwhile, that is what the statistics
show. During the past ten years, agriculture has been kept at a 25-40%
Gross National Product (GNP). In 2003, it was more than 25%. During the
months of January-October 2004, it has already reached the 26% mark and
beyond. In addition, that is exactly how much the specific balance
says. This means that industry and agriculture in Armenia have the same
results. We would be exaggerating if we called a country where both
industry and agriculture are equal agrarian, if of course, we didn’t
take into consideration what industry really means in Armenia.
The produce section of the industry in Armenia makes profits of 35-45%
each year. The 40-60% GNP consists of the agricultural products and
their cultivation. In this case, I don’t think I am exaggerating when I
say that we are an agrarian country. The positive outcome of the
economy is hard to compare with other statistics. Foreign economy is
totally different. Imports exceed exports by two times. This became
worse during the year. Exports rose by 1.5% this year compared to 2003
and imports went up 4%. After the final review of the year, it will
turn out that the least amount of foreign trade is $500-600 million
dollars. This means that that much money was taken out of the country
for imports. Everyone knows how that money gets to Armenia. The
Diaspora had transferred that much money to the friends and relatives
living in the Homeland up until August through money transfers. If we
take into consideration the fact that most of the imports are found in
the produce section of the markets, we see that Armenia looks much more
like an agrarian country. Let’s recall that the authorities made some
announcements about opening up a sugar factory which will grow local
material. There still is no factory and the sugar we use is imported.
Even in the country’s leading agriculture/produce field, it turns out
that cigarettes are imported more than exported. In the end, it turns
out that there are more products being imported than exported. No
matter how much we talk about developing cattle-raising, meat and other
meat products are imported 4-5 times more than exported. This means
that the economy’s most developed field-agriculture-is not that
developed.
“The traveler who visits the Piranhas suddenly finds himself in the
land of farmers,” writes Ortega and adds,” you see faces of villagers
everywhere.”
The famous philosopher Ortega is not depicting neither Spain nor
Armenia. This was just the only phrase that I found suitable to end the
summary of the year.