Business-seminar to introduce the Armenian-Canadian IT Industry

Promotion Project and opportunities for Canadian companies to develop linkages with the growing Armenian IT sector was held on January 25, 2005, at the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation on the initiative of the Armenian Embassy in Ottawa and the OCRI.

More than 30 Canadian IT companies participated in the Seminar discussing through a videoconference connection with their Armenian counterparts from the Enterprise Incubator Foundation in Yerevan opportunities for accessing Armenia’s sophisticated software development capabilities and IP, through skilled, highly educated, low cost software resources to support offshore research and development; creating partnership to access large Russian-speaking markets as well as to market new products and services in North American markets.

Representatives from Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada introduced the Partnerships for Tomorrow Program designed to contribute to the democratic and economic reform process in the Central and Eastern Europe countries. It has been agreed to start arrangements for inviting 5 Armenian IT specialists to participate at the Partnerships for Tomorrow Program during April – September, 2005.

The Armenian-Canadian IT Industry Promotion Initiative itself has been introduced by Mr. Grant Thomas, responsible for the Project and representative of the Armenian IT Industry Promotion sector in Canada, who described details of the Project and highlighted its main goals: to increase the awareness of the capability, sophistication and potential of the Armenia IT sector in Canada and to generate sales opportunities for export-ready Armenian companies in the Canadian and North American markets; and to inform Canadian IT companies and investors of the scientific and technical capacity of the Armenian IT sector and to promote investment, joint ventures and outsourcing in Armenia.

H.E. Ara Papian, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Canada gave a comprehensive presentation of Armenia’s new opportunities for economic cooperation and business highlighting in particular great opportunities in IT and other priority sectors of economic development.