A national conference on direct foreign investments in Armenia kicked off in Yerevan on November 30.

“Attraction of investments was one of the key provisions in the President’s election program. Transformation of our economy is profoundly dependent on our ability to realize it, what we successfully do,” Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan said in his opening remarks.

“Direct foreign investments can help mobilize internal resources,” he added.

For his part, head of the Armenian Development Agency Robert Harutyunyan noted that conference offers an opportunity to discuss achievements and drawbacks.

“About 3700 companies with foreign capital are operating in Armenia. At that, the amount of direct foreign investments increased by 4% in the first half of 2010 while the volume of total investments decreased by 8%,” he said.