An Engine for Economic Growth

"Armenia's technical depth, intellectual capital and work ethic will enhance our product's quality," said Eric Ryan, one of [Minno]'s founders. "The Armenian government's commitment to technical education, entrepreneurship and foreign trade, coupled with favorable terms in the Yerevan Free Economic Zone, make the country an attractive base for production. It's time for Armenian brands to extend the country's technical influence into international markets." "Armenian IT needs to have three features: quality, creativity and adaptability," said [Karen Vardanyan]. "I believe flexibility separates Armenian IT specialists from their foreign colleagues, since the field is changing rapidly in Armenia and we have to give to our clients more than they ask for. We have dubbed this concept 'surprise engineering' and we hope it becomes the Armenian IT brand within the next five years." 'The biggest token of Armenia's success is its smallness. In today's IT world, demand is shifting from programming in general to niche programming, geared specifically towards math, physics and biology. Because Yerevan is so small, there is a dense concentration of specialists. A good programmer and a good biologist can easily find one another and meet a niche programming need," explained Yengibarian. "We are now taking this 'Yerevan effect' to the different regions of Armenia."