Statement by Davit Grigorian, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Armenia, at the UNGA 74 Second Committee, Agenda Item 16: ICT for sustainable development

18 հոկտեմբերի, 2019

Madam Chair,

We welcome the Secretary-General’s report, submitted under this agenda item and take good note of the recommendations contained therein, which capture the recent trends on impact of ICTs in various spheres of public life.

The 2030 Agenda acknowledges the vital role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in driving progress towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ICTs, being cross-cutting in nature, offer enormous potential for promoting and accelerating sustainable development. They are already empowering millions of individuals around the world – by enabling more efficient resource usage, as well as providing access to education resources and healthcare, and services such as e-government, mobile banking and many more.

Madam Chair,

Armenia is a country with a very high rate of internet penetration and home to a vibrant and growing IT industry. The Government of Armenia has declared ICT a strategic area of focus and its legislation creates favorable conditions for foreign direct investments in the ICT sector. Furthermore, consistent efforts are made to promote the development of high-tech innovations, ecosystems, and start-ups in the industry. The Government provided broad tax benefits to technology startups in Armenia, which shall be exempt of income tax by 2023. As a result, the IT sector grew nearly fivefold over the past seven years, boasting a sustained 25% annual growth. Today, Armenia is a home to over 900 ICT companies, including the globally-recognized PicsArt, Softconstruct, and many more.

Modernising Armenia’s economy with particular emphasis on advancing information and communication technologies, fostering innovation and creative education are the corner stone of our development agenda. Promoting the empowerment and capacity building of youth as drivers of smart development is imperative in terms of improving efforts and resources in the ICT industry in Armenia.

In this regard one of the key elements of the ambitious reform agenda, announced by the Prime Minister in the context of launch of the Transformation Strategy of Armenia 2050 is establishing equitable and high-quality education, important components of which are innovation, creative thinking and use of technologies. “TUMO” and “COAF” centers for creative technologies, the Armath engineering laboratories are important achievements in this field, where thousands of Armenian teens are introduced to science, technology and engineering in creative environment, and access to the tools and resources to develop practical skills in web design, robotics, animation, and many other areas.

Madam Chair,

Last week Armenia hosted the 23rd World Congress on Information Technologies - a major platform that unites ICT associations representing 90% of the industry, globally. Held under the theme “Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital Age - The Power of Decentralization”, the Congress has brought together the world’s top technology and business leaders, prominent representatives of government and private sector, to reflect on the latest developments in the industry and issues of global interest, such as artificial intelligence, impact of ICT on education, smart cities, governance in the digital age, cybersecurity, democracy and humanity and many other topics.

Madam Chair,

Armenia puts high priority on the cooperation with the United Nations programs and agencies, as well as the regional partners for the advancement of Smart Development. We remain committed to further cooperation with all partners in promoting ICTs, open Internet and high-tech economy, as means to accelerate achievement of Agenda 2030 and sustainable Development Goals.

Thank you.

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