– For several years now the government has declared the IT sector a priority for the country’s economic development. Do we see indications of that in development of the sector?
– This question has been raised constantly during the past 10 years, since the government has declared IT one of the priority industries. It’s natural to ask that question, however I do not have an obvious answer. Those, who say that it is just a slogan, ignore the developments during those years. Saying it is indeed a priority, and the government has done everything in its power for the past years in order for it to become real and tangible won’t be true either. We need to focus on the accomplishments we had and try and find people behind that success. If the government played a role in that, for example, let’s says so, and if not, let’s say that it is the result of private initiatives and investments. I cannot give you an unambiguous answer to that question. I know that some of my colleagues say that the government has done nothing to support or develop the IT sphere, the others, who are on the other side of the extreme, say that everything indeed was done by the government, and the sector was always a priority for the country’s economic development. I reject both of those approaches. Different developments took place for the past years, which responsible for what we have today, and only by analyzing those developments can we have the real picture.
– The National Competitiveness Report did not mention IT sector as one of the competitive advantages of the country.
– Immediately after the publication of the report, I raised the question, since it was strange to me that the IT industry was not included in the report. On the contrary, pharmaceutics was presented as an industry with bigger additional value. I was told that in the previous report the IT industry was thoroughly presented, and so they have tried to give more priority to a different sphere this year. This was not really an acceptable answer for me, but this is the reality.
– What do you think about the latest statement by “Armsoft” that the IT industry is on the verge of collapse?
– That is such an extreme comment. Naturally, there are some slips, failures and we have surrendered positions to our rivals during different years, but saying that the IT sphere is on the verge of collapse is not right, because we have success stories, especially in the areas of microelectronics and chip design, which is what our company does. Suffice it to say that two of the three leading companies in the world have their presence in Armenia, and Synopsys Armenia is the second largest Synopsys site (after USA), while Synopsys has representative offices in 50 countries. We have a large number of engineers working with modern technologies. New companies are created, which challenges even the big companies like ours in terms of retaining our staff, since our company does not aim to provide the most competitive salaries. Being the leader in the market, we try to provide predictable and stable jobs for our employees. Our company strategy is attracting people not with highest salaries but with stable jobs and best working conditions.
– There is a proposal to create a ministry, a regulatory body to control the field. What do you think about it? Is there a need for that?
– I think if the creation of the ministry is going to cause inconvenience for IT companies, which will have to submit reports and attend meetings, then we do not need such a ministry. But if the ministry will help to bring in foreign investment and new companies, and to make Armenia competitive and interesting for branding companies, then I agree that it should be created. However, this is unambiguous issue. There should be a political will to create such a structure, and it should address specific issues. If it should become another ministry, a bureaucratic structure, which will impose rules of the game, then I’m against that kind of ministry.
– What do you think about the proposal to create a free economic zone?
– I would like us to have a law on techno parks, because the U.S., Israel, Ireland and other countries which have serious developments in this field during recent years, they all have laws on technoparks. For example, Synopsys is located in ViaSphere technopark. We call it a technopark for more than ten years, but that’s only a name. It’s only a space. There should be laws about technoparks, which will provide certain privileges to companies. I think there is a need for technoparks, and of course, the factor of a free economic zone factor in the technopark is crucial, but for that we first of all need a law on that.
– What about our legislative field with regard of IT sector?
– The most important component, the intellectual property rights are protected in Armenia. For such research companies as ours, it is the most important, and I think that if intellectual property is protected in a country, it means that the country is guaranteed to encourage foreign investment. In regard to tax and customs privileges, I think the regulation in this sphere is as disruptive as in any other sphere. So, to tell the truth, I am against separating and saying that the tax and customs administration is very important for this particular industry, because I would not like us to create "greenhouse" conditions in terms of tax and customs administration. There are many other factors that can be used as an effective tool for the development of this sector in terms of the tax administration. Thus, certain privileges can be created for companies that are involved in R&D and invest in educational system, but saying that a IT company should be given a tax privilege, I believe is not right.
– What is the role of Armenia in the region? It is often said that our country is in a leading position when it comes to IT sphere development.
– Different reports on economic competitiveness have different components, which determine how much is each country developed let’s say IT sphere. We need to specify where and what. If we are talking about telecommunication industry, this is a different component, microelectronics is another one, so is computer software. We must understand the priorities of our country. We Armenians love to say that we are the first in this or that sphere. We need a serious analysis to be able to understand where we stand in each specific branch of IT sector. In my opinion, we have the leading role in the region in the microelectronics, particularly in the field of electronic circuits design automation. It is no accident that the curricula and educational programs on the design of integrated circuits, developed in our company are used by leading universities in many countries, such as Russia, Arab countries. That is a real success. Today we speak about a decline in the quality of education, the shortcomings of higher education system, but at the same time, we forget about our success in this sphere. For example, this summer students from a Jordanian university will come to intern at Synopsys Armenia. We have success stories in other companies too. I only mentioned accomplishments within the framework of this particular model. We cooperate with different universities quite effectively, so that the educational models today have a business component in them.
– What other achievements do we have?
– I would like to mention the International Microelectronics Olympiad, which is held in Armenia. Last year the winners came from 13 countries came to Armenian to participate in the final stage, and the student from Armenia won the competition. During all those years in the Olympiad the first place was always won by Armenian youth. This is a great accomplishment and one cannot ignore the fact.
– However, on the other hand, we have a brain drain? Are we doing anything to counter it?
– It is a serious challenge, of course, and I am very concerned. We should differentiate problems; try to diagnose them for different time periods. Unemployment is not the only reason behind it. I can mention many examples of young people with good education and good jobs, who think about leaving Armenia. It’s a different question why they want to leave. The reasons are different. I try to talk with each of these people in the attempt to understand the reasons. We have 19 married couples at Synopsys Armenia, whose children will be "Synopsoids”. It’s a good indicator, and I, as an employer, am happy for that. Although those couples get a high salary working for our company, they still are not sure when can they buy their own apartment. If a young couple, who has a stable job, cannot even solve the issue of their accommodation in the near future, they try to find solutions outside. It’s not only at Synopsys that we are losing our best employees, it’s happening in the whole country. By the way, many people don’t think about leaving for good, they want to earn some money, become good professionals and come back. Many are not happpy with the quality of life here or they want to travel. Our young people are very impatient. I think the responsibility towards our country is higher for the older generation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union our generation went through certain stages, took on the burden on their shoulders and made our young people less initiative. But when we see that young people unite, fight for some causes, I welcome it. The young people should have an environment to discover themselves. Unlike foreigners, Armenian youth is very reluctant in that sense. It was always there on a genetical level, especially with boys. They constantly need to be rediscovered, so they can reveal their hidden characteristics.
I spend a lot of time with young people, and I get very excited when I saw what bright youngsters we have. Sometimes my friends tell me I am a dreamer, I became one in the past years. So, my optimism was changed into idealism. I think the main reason for that is spending time with students and seeing their potential. It hurts me when people leave, especially when I know they are not coming back. But I get inspired with young people, who are patriotic and are concerned about their country, and their numbers are not few.
– This year the 8th Annual Educational Award of RA President will take place. What does it give young people?
– We have created "Winners’ Club" to unite the best students who have received the award during different years. They gather at the club, organize meeting with distinguished people. It is very important because the 90 percent of our youth does not have role models or heroes in our society, people who possess the qualities that they would like to have. It’s a big challenge that many do not perceive and accept our heroes. Many say that we must create a society where the knowledgeable and educated person should serve as an example and as the greatest incentive to acquire knowledge for young people. However, we show examples differently, including television, which has a major role in portraying criminals as heroes, as a result, the motivation to study is not so high, especially with boys. In my research I found out that the gap between boys and girls is constantly increasing, they boys get less motivated to study, the girls, on the opposite, have more and more motivation. In all Armenian universities 9 students out of 10 with excellent grades are girls. I am all for matriarchy saving our country, but we are facing serious challenges, we are at war, so we need not only soldiers, but also boys who will lead us into various directions. Without being labeled as a dreamer, I believe we are going to have a reverse brain drain; we only need to create conditions for our young people to have dignified life opportunities here. I am certain that the patriotism factor is so big, that the Armenian youngsters studying abroad will find a way to support their country from outside. Maybe not in person, but they will give back by investing, bringing in a new culture, creating a branches of their companies in their homeland. Maybe if they stayed here, they would not accomplish that much. It’s a positive tendency when a person goes abroad to achieve big things and then comes back. I believe we will have a reverse brain drain years from now. Today we are not yet ready to bring our compatriots to Armenia but we need to think about it, we need to create some guarantees. We need to work on this together.