Building Cluster Competitiveness

2nd Armenian Pharmaceutical Competitiveness Conference Kicks off in Yerevan

December 2, 2009. Armenia’s second Pharmaceutical Competitiveness Conference was held in Yerevan on yesterday on the initiative of the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project in partnership with the RA Government, the Scientific Center of Drug and Medical Technology Expertise (SCDMTE), the Union of Medicine Producers and Importers of Armenia, Armenian Development Agency, and National Competitiveness Foundation.

The event updated industry representatives on the current status of the sector, promoted collaboration among pharmaceutical sector stakeholders, and encouraged discussions on major industry issues, including financial crisis impact on pharmaceutical production, adoption of international industry standards and export market opportunities.

Around 200 participants representing government, the private sector, educational institutions, international organizations and business associations attended and discussed various important issues, including: opportunities for Armenian pharmaceutical producers in domestic and foreign markets, the need for improvements in medicine regulation, the current situation of medicine production in Armenia and possible development scenarios, etc.

Opening the conference, Ara Babloyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Healthcare of the National Assembly, praised the efforts of the conference organizers and highlighted the importance of raising issues requiring legislative solutions. “Broad discussions like this will provide an excellent opportunity to analyze the weaknesses and the challenges that can be overcome in future. A sound legislative filed will create favorable conditions for medicine circulation” he added.

David Hull, Director of the Economic Growth Office, USAID/Armenia said. “USAID attaches importance to the assistance being provided to the Armenian pharmaceutical industry because domestically produced drugs significantly contribute to the availability and affordability of major drugs. Under the CAPS Project, assistance is being provided to bring the sector in line with international standards, which will also help enhance the sector's competitiveness and promote exports.”

Other keynote speakers included Emil Gabrielyan, Director of SCDMTE who highlighted the issues related with implementation of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) international standard in Armenia and Artak Ghazaryan, CAPS Chief of Party.

The conference built upon the success of the first Pharmaceutical Competitiveness Conference, held last November by CAPS and its major partners in the pharmaceutical industry. That conference focused on introducing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.   

3rd Annual Armenian IT Competitiveness Conference Opens in Yerevan  

November 24. The 3rd Annual Armenian Information Technology (IT) Competitiveness Conference opened in Yerevan with joint organization by the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project, the Ministry of Economy, Armenian Development Agency, Microsoft Armenia, Enterprise Incubator Foundation, National Competitiveness Foundation, D-Link, Arminco and IT business associations. In light of the latest political and economic developments, the conference aimed to analyze current opportunities and challenges and define IT industry priorities for the future.

Over 250 industry representatives, including: government, private companies, educational institutions, international organizations, NGOs and others interested in the development of Armenia’s IT industry participated in the conference.

Highlighting the role of IT as one of the fastest growing industries, Nerses Yeritsyan, RA Minister of Economy, reminded participants that the sector had been pronounced a most important component of economic development by the government. "ICT largely promotes technological innovation and productivity in the country. At present, branches of a number of Russian, European, American companies and think tanks operate in Armenia, which means that Armenia is stressing its role as an IT country” the Minister stated.

Despite the decline in sales and investment due to the global economic crisis, the Armenian IT industry had a number of achievements during the past year, such as improved tax and customs procedures as a result of successful public private sector cooperation; the entrance of the third mobile operator into the telecommunication market; a number of local and regional IT expos and forums securing business deals for Armenian IT firms; and ArmTech Congress in Silicon Valley, showcasing Armenia’s high-tech capabilities in one of world’s largest high-tech economic centers.

“Armenia has a rich history in developing IT in the country. A number of successful projects have been implemented by the Ministry of Economy, among them, the Gyumri Technopark project. IT is being introduced in every sphere, and this can secure long-term prosperity” David Hull, Director of the Economic Growth Office of USAID/Armenia said. 

The conference presented the collaborative efforts of IT cluster stakeholders toward creating an IT society, producing competitive educational curricula through academic partnerships, enhancing the regulatory framework, etc. Invited international experts suggested solutions to Armenia’s telecommunication sector development and ways to expand high-tech businesses through the creation of venture capital funds.

The conference builds its success on the previous two IT competitiveness conferences held in 2007 and 2008 by CAPS and its major partners.    

CAPS Helps Armenian Medicine Producers Enhance Marketing Skills- Training on Pharmaceutical Marketing  Opens in Yerevan

October 15, 2009. Training on Pharmaceutical Marketing for Armenian pharmaceutical industry opened today in Yerevan. The five-day training program is jointly organized by the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project and the GXP Center of Excellence, recently established with CAPS support through the Union of Medicine Producers and Importers of Armenia (MPI). The initiative aims to assist Armenian medicine producers in enhancing their production efficiency and increasing the visibility of Armenian-produced drugs in the local and export markets.

Local producers currently only satisfy around 10% of domestic demand. CAPS research on the domestic perception of drugs produced by Armenian pharmaceutical companies has revealed that these medicines do not command a particularly strong image domestically; interviewees typically believe that imported drugs are of a higher quality. This is also partly conditioned by poor marketing activities on the part of the producers.

The survey results suggest that Armenian pharmaceutical producers work hard on their marketing, particularly focusing on the medical profession, to change perception about Armenian-produced drugs. 

Whilst many of the pharmaceutical manufacturers would like to diversify their product portfolio into current markets and expand the range of export markets, companies have limited knowledge and information about potential markets.

Taking into consideration the lack of marketing knowledge and ability to market effectively in both the domestic and export markets, the organizers of the training have specifically tailored the basic marketing course toward the pharmaceutical industry. The course is being delivered by Gerrit ten Hoonte, an international expert with over 30 years experience in pharmaceutical marketing. Participants include company representatives, business service providers, civil servants, MPI representatives and academia.

“The domestic market is too small for local producers from the point of view of product realization, and in order to expand toward export markets they need to master essential marketing techniques. The training provides an excellent opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with the peculiarities of export marketing.” Lala Margaryants, CAPS Pharmaceutical Cluster Coordinator stated.

The training will be supported by one-on-one assistance to each pharmaceutical company, with a more advanced marketing course to follow.  

Pharmaceutical Training on Quality Standards Launched 

Training entitled “EU Guidelines on GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) for Pharmaceutical Production” was launched in Yerevan today as a joint initiative of the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian, Private Sector (CAPS) Project and the recently established GXP Center of Excellence. The training course aims to enrich the knowledge of industry specialists on EU GMP requirements. Twelve representatives of medicine-producing companies are participating on the training course; delivered by internationally-qualified Armenian GMP expert-trainers.

Armenia’s pharmaceutical cluster is making remarkable steps towards the introduction of GMP, a quality standard that most countries rely on today to import or produce medicines. In Armenia, however, as CAPS assessments amongst pharmaceutical companies have revealed, GMP knowledge appears to be deficient in a number of areas.

Taking this into consideration, and, studying and assessing the Armenian pharmaceutical producers, CAPS international consultants Michael Kimber and Alain Kupferman developed a GMP training course in 2008, based on the World Health Organization’s basic and advanced GMP Training Modules, and adapted them to meet the Armenian situation. The training course was approved by the RA Minister of Health. The first “EU Guidelines on GMP for Pharmaceutical Production” course was delivered by Kimber and Kupferman in May-June 2009 for local producers, academic staff and business service providers. It was then followed by a “GMP Training of Trainers” course.

Today, four of the 17 locally-trained trainers share their experience with beginners through the GXP Center of Excellence (founded by industry stakeholders) to ensure the sustainability of the program.

During his speech at the opening of the course, Artak Ghazaryan, CAPS Chief of Party highlighted the importance of introducing high quality standards in the Armenian pharmaceutical industry and expressed hope that participants will apply the new skills and knowledge in practice. “The CAPS project is ready to assist projects that promote cooperation among stakeholders” he added.  

Second “Armenian Competitiveness Report” Launched

Economy and Values Research Center (EVRC) with technical support from the CAPS Project has prepared the Second “Armenian Competitiveness Report: Sowing the Seeds of an Innovation Ecosystem”. The report assesses Armenia’s performance from the point of view of competitiveness and innovation activities, defines the fundamental models of national innovation systems and proposes the basic criteria of selecting innovation promotion models based on international best practice and the peculiarities of Armenia. The report aims to support active dialogue between the private and public sectors to help improve Armenia’s competitiveness and the formation of an efficient national innovation system.

Speaking at the official launch ceremony held on September 16, Tigran Sargsyan, RA Prime Minister highlighted the importance of this initiative. “The report will become a reliable source for scientists and professionals who seek ways to improve the competitiveness of Armenia’s economy.” The Prime Minister added that while studying the main theses of the report he has driven a number of important conclusions, which, as he supposes, will help government speed-up the reform processes.

John Seong, Deputy Mission Director at USAID Armenia noted that the goal of the report is to extend dialogue between private and public sectors to promote Armenia's competitiveness and the formation of the national innovation system.

Maintaining last year’s ranking from the point of view of global competitiveness (97th among 133 countries according to Global Competitiveness Report (GCR)) in 2009, Armenia made a transition into a new development stage resulting in changes in the weights of different competitiveness factors. According to the report, while in the previous stage importance was being attached to macroeconomic stability, institutional system and primary infrastructure, now the role of factors affecting economic efficiency and innovation capacities is increasing.

ACR 2009 compares Armenia with countries of three regions: CIS, Eastern Europe and Eurasian Crossroads (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey).
Among 29 comparable countries, Armenia is mainly behind countries with medium to good performance. Armenia continues to maintain a good position from the point of view of macroeconomic performance, workforce market efficiency and health care indicators.

According to the report, noticeable reforms have been registered in the indicators of financial markets and infrastructure as a result of a considerable inflow of foreign investment. Limited competition in the product market continues to remain one of the major obstacles for competitiveness. Although Armenia lags behind most of the comparable countries with its low level of productivity, the Armenian economy was distinguished with high degree of progress before the crisis. Keeping this tendency is one of the fundamental issues today. The main impetus for improving productivity is the formation and development of a knowledge and skills base in different spheres of the economy. Studying the experience of leading countries (the US, Israel, Singapore, Finland) in building innovation-based economies, the report identifies four possible strategies for developing a national innovation system. As a mechanism for supporting innovative ideas and testing products, the report proposes a concept of establishing an “Idea Exchange Foundation”, which is being effectively applied in other countries.

NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT  

New Multilingual Information Panels for Haghpat Monastery
Armenian Monument Awareness Project Continues its Mission

Haghpat Monastery, one of Armenia’s most spectacular historical, cultural and religious centers, and Armenia’s first World Heritage Site, offers visitors an improved experience with newly installed multilingual outdoor information panels around the monument, presenting visitors with fascinating facts about the site and the surrounding attractions.

The launch of the information panels, held on Saturday July 11, was marked by an exciting celebration, which turned into a festival dedicated to the songs and poetry of Sayat Nova, one of Armenia’s greatest medieval bards, who resided at Haghpat Monastery in the 18th century. The celebration started with the traditional blessing of bread and salt at the entrance of the monument and was followed by a tree planting ceremony.

CAPS was represented by Gera Voskanyan, CAPS Tourism Cluster Coordinator. In his speech, Gera Voskanyan highlighted the importance of providing visitors with accurate information presenting the real value of Armenian attractions, some of which do not yield in their significance to world famous tourist sites attracting millions of visitors each year.

The speeches were followed by impressive recitations of Sayat Nova’s poems and traditional duduk performances.

Haghpat Monastery signage is an important component of the joint efforts of the AMAP NGO and the RA Ministry of Culture, to celebrate and raise awareness of Armenian historic and natural monuments, to enhance the visitor experience at the sites by creating and installing signed, print, multimedia and online information while promoting Armenia as a tourism destination. The project is sponsored by CAPS, VivaCell MTS, and the Honorary Consul for Italy in Gyumri.

Haghpat Monastery became the 19th site of the Armenian Monuments Awareness Project, and by the end of 2009 the project implementers plan to increase that number to 26. The old town of Gyumri is the next site, and the launch of the event will take place on July 26th.  

YEGHEGNADZOR TOURISM INDUSTRY WELCOMED FRENCH TOURISM MARKET EXPERT PHILLIPPE MUGNIER

CAPS international expert from France, Philippe Mugnier, started his Armenia experience in Vayots Dzor Marz, where he presented the French outbound market, its size, and characteristics to representatives of Yeghegnadzor’s tourism and hospitality sector; hotels, restaurants, visitor information center, business and tourism development center and students from Yerevan State Economic University (Yeghegnadzor Branch).  The seminar was hosted by the University.

From Philippe’s presentation, it is clear that the financial and economic crisis hasn’t seriously affected French travelers, who still want to travel and have spare money for their holiday budget. France is the world’s 5th largest outbound market with an international expenditure of US$ 28.6 billion (after Germany, USA, UK and Japan).  “The middle to upper-middle classes (above €3100 income per month) are saving the most for their holidays!” said Mr. Mugnier, citing a CREDOC study from November 2008.  Even though 30 French tour operators feature Armenia, they are not actively promoting Armenia, because in their perception, it is still an old fashioned and sad country. 
Yeghegnadzor tourism and hospitality sector is active in developing new and innovative ideas in tourism, and evidence of this is the establishment of large tourism development center to be opened in December 2009.  Mr. Mugnier gave useful hints of what can be done to enrich Armenia’s tourism product offering for French travelers.  He also had a chance to visit an Areni Village winery, Noravank and Khor Virap Monasteries.   

Armenia Perceived as Exotic Country for Many Tourists

Many governments around the world declare tourism as a priority industry and provide significant resources in order to effectively promote their destinations. Its importance is clear. Tourism is a principal export earner for 83% of developing countries and it is the principal export for one-third of them. The global tourism industry, according to the UN World Tourism Organization, creates US$ 3 billion everyday. It is therefore, unsurprisingly, the world’s largest service industry and employs almost every one in thirteen people (particularly women and young people).

How is Armenia perceived by the world as a tourism destination? What is the country doing to present itself to the world? How can it create / improve its image? These and related issues were addressed at a workshop for the local tourism industry and media organized by UNWTO, the RA Ministry of Economy and ATDA held on June 2, 2009 in Tsaghkadzor as part of a familiarization trip undertaken by international journalists from Italy, the UK and Germany between May 30 and June 5.

After exhaustive tours throughout the country the journalists shared their impressions and made recommendations on how to improve Armenia’s image to an audience of local tourism industry representatives. The workshop was attended by the RA Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan who actively participated in discussions. The journalists also praised the targeted marketing approach undertaken by ATDA and CAPS consultant, Nadia Pasqual, in the Italian market. One of the journalists has already secured a story with CNN Traveller magazine.

The impressions on Armenia among the foreign participants of the familiarization trip were quite varied but they were all agreed on one thing: Armenia should take advantage of the unique hospitality of its people and use it to attract tourists. Other recommendations included:

• Promoting Armenia’s image as an exotic country;
• Organizing Armenian festivals abroad;
• Focusing on niche tourism (hiking, spa);
• Developing environmental tourism;
• Making more investments in the hospitality (B&Bs);
• Developing medical tourism;
• Presenting the real Armenia to the world.  

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED PHARMACEUTICAL TRAINING PROGRAM LAUNCHES IN ARMENIA 

An internationally-recognized GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) Standards Workshop and Training of Trainers program for Armenia’s pharmaceutical industry was launched today. The program is a joint initiative of the CAPS project, the Ministry of Health, Scientific Center for Drug and Medical Technology Expertise, Yerevan State Medical University and the newly established GXP Centre of Excellence. Facilitated by international experts, the program aims to standardize knowledge of EU GMP requirements amongst a core group of pharmaceutical cluster representatives, as well as to strengthen the capacity of academic institutions to provide training in GMP.

Opening the workshop, Hayley Alexander, CAPS Chief of Party highlighted the importance of introducing GMP in Armenia. “This intensive course is intended to bring the Armenian pharmaceutical industry in line with the international practice and is probably the most important step the Armenian pharmaceutical industry can take now. GMP certification is no longer optional for export; moreover, GMP implementation can help overcome another obstacle - the quality perception problem in the domestic market.

The Armenian Pharmaceutical Industry is making dramatic steps toward the introduction of GMP, a quality standard that most countries in the world rely on today to import and export medicines. Assessments undertaken amongst Armenian pharmaceutical companies, however, have revealed that GMP knowledge appears to be deficient in a number of areas. “Compliance to GMP international standards is important for the Armenian pharmaceutical industry. Without that standard Armenia will never become a pharmaceutical production center”. Emil Gabrielyan, Director of Scientific Center for Drug and Medical Technology Expertise stated.

In his remarks, Rolf Anderson, Head of Economic Growth Office of USAID praised the collaborative efforts of the workshop organizers expressing commitment on the part of the US government to further support pharmaceutical sector development programs in Armenia.

The 13-day, comprehensive, advanced-level training program is specially designed to address the abovementioned issues. The workshop is targeted at pharmaceutical production company quality assurance managers, in-company trainers, technical managers, and senior supervisors. After studying the specific problems and needs of the Armenian Pharmaceutical Sector, CAPS consultants have developed a GMP Training course based on World Health Organization GMP basic and supplementary training modules, and specifically tailored them toward EU nuances and requirements for use in Armenia. An additional course will assist trainees to become GMP trainers. Then those who successfully complete the Advanced GMP and Training of Trainers courses will be eligible to provide training through the GXP Center of Excellence, which has been established in May of this year by the Union of Medicine Producers and Importers through CAPS assistance. The GXP Center of Excellence will deliver sustainable, fee-based certified training programs and assist companies to fulfill their continuous training needs.   

“PROFESSIONAL GUIDES' SKILLS" TRAINING

Between April 8 – 15, 2009, the Armenian Guides Guild delivered its first Hands on Training in Armenia for improving professional skills of active tourist guides.   The training was delivered by World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA) certified trainers, trained with CAPS support.   Participants undertook an examination according to WFTGA standards and will receive certificates of completion or attendance based on the results, which will be announced at the beginning of June.  Guides will receive certificates from AGG according to the level completed.  AGG will organize a special event to announce the results of the training, with participation of the tourism industry, and press to promote further training programs in Armenia.  The best guides will have an opportunity to join AGG and will be included in the AGG employment database.  Overall, 10 participants attended the training.  

Armenia's Bird Trail Launches In Surenavan Village 

The launch of the Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) events for 2009 was marked by the presentation of Armenia’s Bird Trail by the renowned Armash fishponds at the foot of Mount Ararat on April 29, 2009. The attractive multilingual interpretation boards covering the vast majority of Armenia’s 350 bird species promise the visitors an exceptional bird watching experience at an area with one of the largest bird collections in Western Asia.

In the framework of the AMAP project, and with support from the main sponsors and organizers (the RA Ministry of Culture, VivaCell-MTS, USAID/CAPS and the Honorary Italian Consul in Gyumr), open-air interpretation boards and directional signs were installed at some of Armenia’s most well known sites in 2008. These include: Garni Temple, the Historic city of Gyumri, Zvartnots Temple, Noravank Canyon and Khor Virap. This year, alongside Armenia’s cultural and historical monuments, AMAP’s program also aims to promote the country’s natural monuments.

The Bird Trail is part of AMAP’s 2009 Natural Monument series and features four locations on the “Armenian Bird Trail”, at Armash, Uranots, Lichk and Norashen. The program aims to raise awareness of Armenia’s natural wonders, along with its cultural and historical monuments, facilitate tourist and birder access to the sites, and promote Armenia as a natural tourism destination.

Armash fishponds are one of the Caucasus’ richest ornithological hotspots and the only place that boasts such an extensive concentration of birdlife in Armenia. The diversity of birds that call this magical place home is impressive, with about 220 different species. It is also the habitat that provides the main entry point for most migratory water birds that cross the national borders.

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie L. Yovanovitch was among the prominent guests attending the presentation. She highly praised the efforts of the project implementers and the bird trail as an important new service being offered to visitors, extending beyond cultural tourism in Armenia.  

Promoting Tourism Information Center Cooperation

Supporting the development of a regional network of tourism information centers, CAPS organized the first networking event on April 27, 2009 around a guest lecturing by Mahmood A. Khan, a CAPS visiting expert and Professor at the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Virginia Tech University. 

Hosted by the Ijevan Tourism and Business Information Center the lecture touched upon the topic of “Marketing and Sales in the Hospitality Business”. Nineteen representatives of Ijevan tourism and hospitality sector were in attendance, including: a B&B, hotel, Art School, Museum, Tourism Information Center, Cultural House, Municipality Cultural, Educational and Sports department and students from YSU Tourism Branch – plus representatives from Yerevan and Dilijan Tourism Information Centers.

The event was opened by CAPS Chief of Party, Hayley Alexander, who mentioned CAPS support to tourism and especially its workforce development and marketing and sales components.  The Mayor of Ijevan, Mr. Varuzhan Nersisyan emphasized the importance of tourism development for Ijevan, where one of his ongoing efforts includes supporting the sustainability of the Tourism and Business Information Center, opened some six years ago. 

As Dr. Khan explained, a very important aspect of tourism is excitement which creates memories, and people are the most valuable ingredient in any service oriented industry.  “Tourism is a service, which is perishable and every day that passes without selling a particular tourism product or service is forever lost.” 

In order to drive these points home, the group was engaged in a practical exercise of evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threads of Ijevan and its tourism products. This led to an initial five-point action plan, which was prepared and discussed to improve Ijevan tourism visits and expenditures. 

This was one of several planned events to help facilitate networking between tourism information centers: Ijevan, Dilijan, Yerevan and Gyumri.   

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