Tech investments are big item on EBRD agenda at annual meeting in Yerevan

Tech investments are a big item on the agenda at the European bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) annual meeting to be held in Yerevan in the coming days (may 14-16), the bank’s experts told at the online press conference, speaking from the bank’s headquarters in London.

EBRD has made investments in IT and telecom in Armenia too, one of the most recent examples being a $20 mln loan https://www.ebrd.com/news/2022/ebrd-finances-us-20-million-including-for-network-upgrade-of-telecom-armenia.html for network upgrade of Telecom Armenia (a local telecom operator). Earlier, EBRD venture Capital invested in Picsart (one of the two Armenian tech companies with market capitalization exceeding $1 billion).

Speaking about the forecast for economic growth for Armenia, the bank’s president, Ms Odile Renaud Basso told that the bank is about to upgrade it from the earlier 4,5% to 5% for 2024, with the same 5% for 2025.

Compared to the previous edition of his regional Economic Prospects, in September 2023, now the bank’s experts suggest that Russian nationals, which stayed in Armenia in large numbers, will continue to boost demand of goods and services.

Also, displaced persons from Nagorno Karabakh keep receiving monthly assistance for subsistence and lodging, while gradually entering the labor market (in the midterm, the government plans to assist them with permanent housing).

Besides, the government maintained large infrastructure investments in 2024  (also pledging to keep them in the next years)