Armenia is gradually transitioning from an agrarian economy to an industrial one, forming the basis for a post-industrial innovation society. This was stated by the Chairman of the Central Bank of the country, Martin Galstyan, in the Banking on Success podcast by Raiffeisen Bank. According to him, the technology sector, artificial intelligence, and export-oriented services play a key role in this transformation.
As Galstyan noted, research centers in Armenia have been opened by NVIDIA, Synopsys, EPAM, Adobe, and other technology companies. He stated that the largest AI infrastructure center in the region is already operating in the country, with an investment of $500 million. Another $4 billion is planned to be invested within the framework of the Firebird project in cooperation with NVIDIA. The head of the Central Bank believes that such initiatives indicate qualitative changes in the country's technological ecosystem and can strengthen its position in the international services market.
Armenia also has specialists in chip design and a significant number of IT personnel, but the development of AI requires them to master new areas, including deep learning. Galstyan also emphasized the importance of the Armenian diaspora, especially representatives of the technology industry in California and Silicon Valley. Among them, he mentioned Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Moderna and founder of the investment company Flagship Pioneering, noting that such connections help develop an innovative environment in Armenia.