New Cities to Be Built in Armenia: Vahan Kerobyan on Economic Growth and the Future of Yerevan

The government is moving towards larger urban development projects, including the renovation of neighborhoods in Yerevan, the construction of new districts, and the establishment of new cities. This was announced by the Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan during a broadcast on Public Television.

“There are rumors that our housing market is overheating and oversaturated; I need to debunk that myth. Approximately 300,000 to 400,000 square meters of new residential space are commissioned annually in Armenia, which is five times less than our demand. Our housing stock is sufficiently worn out, and there is a need to accelerate the pace of construction. In the coming years, this will also help economic growth,” Kerobyan stated.

He disagreed with the notion that most of the economic growth is unrelated to government efforts. “The Armenian economy registered impressive growth in the first two months of last year, even before geopolitical changes. This is the result of our economic policy aimed at exports and supporting the manufacturing industry. When we look at the data for the entire year, we see significant growth in the manufacturing industry and sectors not heavily reliant on domestic demand,” he added.

This year, for the first time in Armenia's history, the ratio of exports to GDP is very close to the 50% mark, which is an excellent indicator. This is still just the beginning of our potential. Armenians have been key players in trade between India and Europe since the Middle Ages; the big question now is why we are not doing that again.

We are trying to convert the value accumulated in Armenia into economic potential. As part of our economic modernization program, about 800 companies have acquired around 50 billion drams worth of equipment, which they should use to increase their productivity. Our economy’s productivity has increased by about 30% over the past year,” Kerobyan noted.