REGIONAL CORNER: Armavir Province, Armenia

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**May 1999**
by George Isayan
Armavir province is located in the southwestern part of Armenia, west of Yerevan. The provincehas a total area of 477 sq. miles and a population of 315,500. Located in the fertile Ararat valleybetween Mount Ararat and Mount Aragats, the province has a 45-mile common border withTurkey, which runs along the Arax river. The climate in Armavir is sunny, dry, and continental.
The industrial potential of Armavir is concentrated in three major cities: Armavir (the province'scapital), Echmiadzin, and Metsamor. The province has 40 large- and medium-scale industrialenterprises involved in energy, electronics, food processing, chemicals, and machinery.Ninety-five percent of these have been privatized. 
Agriculture is the largest and fastest growing sector of the province's economy. Eighty percent oflarge- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises specialize in the processing of fruits andvegetables supplied by local farmers.
**Major Cities and Opportunities**Armavir has 46,000 inhabitants and 20 large- and medium-scale enterprises, 80 percent of whichhave been privatized. Among them are several large food processing companies. The ArmavirBrandy Factory is the second largest in Armenia after the Yerevan Brandy Factory. Bothfactories have been acquired by France's Pernod Ricard company. Another large enterprise isMap winery. It produces popular brands of wines and brandies for export to the nis countriesand, very recently, to the United States. The similarly named Matp is a successful furniture plant.Equipped with modern Italian machinery, it sells various types of furniture in Armenia as well asin neighboring Georgia.  
Echmiadzin is the largest city in the province. With its population of 65,000, it is home to 16large- and medium-scale enterprises that specialize in food processing, chemicals, and apparelproduction. Jrarat Poultry Factory JSC, with annual sales of $2.5 million, is the largest factory ofits kind in Armenia. The company in interested in establishing contacts with Americancompanies to upgrade existing facilities and import new technologies and equipment.Echmiadzin is also home to a growing number of small private businesses engaged in retailtrading, gasoline supply, and provision of auto repair services. The city has five enterprisesinvolved in electronics that were originally established to fulfill orders for the Soviet defenseindustry. One of these enterprises has designs that could be used in the automotive and electricalengineering sector and is seeking an American investor to help restructure its facilities forcivilian production.
Many enterprises operating in Armavir province are interested in establishing long-termcooperation or a partnership with foreign investors and may offer U.S. firms interestinginvestment opportunities in food processing, agribusiness, and electronic componentsmanufacturing. 
For more information on business opportunities in the province, contact Henrik Alexanian, Headof Programs Department, or Hakob Hakobian, Head of Mass Media Department, ArmavirGovernor's Office, tel: +374 (47) 65-547, 62-326, fax: +374 (47) 60-856. For more investmentopportunities in Armavir province, visit BISNIS Online atwww.mac.doc.gov/bisnis/country/caucasus.htm#Armenia.