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ANCA: Armenia Scores High on Economic Freedom Index

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  • ANCA: Armenia Scores High on Economic Freedom Index

    Armenian National Committee of America
    888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
    Washington, DC 20006
    Tel: (202) 775-1918
    Fax: (202) 775-5648
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Internet: www.anca.org

    PRESS RELEASE
    January 5, 2004
    Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
    Tel: (202) 775-1918

    ARMENIA SCORES HIGHEST AMONG CIS ON ECONOMIC FREEDOM INDEX

    -- Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Give Armenia their
    Highest Rating in the Commonwealth of Independent States

    WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
    in letters sent today to Members of Congress, Administration
    officials, think tanks, the media, and the broader Washington, DC
    foreign policy community, welcomed Armenia's high rating from the
    Index of Economic Freedom, prepared jointly by the Heritage
    Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

    The Index measures 161 countries against 50 variables divided into
    10 factors of economic freedom. Armenia received a 2.58 rating and
    was ranked 42nd overall - ahead of both France and South Korea.
    Armenia's scores places it, by a considerable margin, as the
    highest scoring nation among the Commonwealth of Independent
    States. Within the Caucasus, Armenia was listed as the only
    "Mostly Free" nation. Georgia ranked 100th overall with a score of
    3.34, and Azerbaijan came in at 103rd with a score of 3.38. Turkey
    continued to slip on economic freedoms, coming in with a score of
    3.36 and a ranking of 112th overall. Lower scores on the Index's
    five-point scale are more desirable.

    "Armenia's strong economic growth and steady progress in each of
    the ten areas weighed by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall
    Street Journal are reflected in the expansion of U.S.-Armenia
    economic relations," said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. "We look
    forward to helping further expand these commercial ties and to
    building on the passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations
    legislation - spearheaded last year by Congressman Joe Knollenberg
    and Senator Mitch McConnell - by ending double-taxation, securing a
    Social Security Agreement, and paving the way toward free trade
    between the United States and Armenia."

    Armenia's ratings in each of the ten factors covered by the Index
    are provided below (Lower scores are more desirable):

    Trade: 2.0
    Fiscal Burden: 2.3
    Gov. Intervention: 2.5
    Monetary Policy: 2.0
    For. Investment: 2.0
    Banking: 1.0
    Wages & Prices: 3.0
    Property Rights: 3.0
    Regulation: 4.0
    Informal Market: 4.0

    According to the Index, Armenia has made steady progress on
    economic freedom over the past decade. Below find Armenia's past
    scores:

    2005: 2.58
    2004: 2.63
    2003: 2.59
    2002: 2.78
    2001: 3.03
    2000: 3.21
    1999: 3.50
    1998: 3.50
    1997: 3.50
    1996: 3.69

    For additional information about the Heritage Foundation/Wall
    Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom, now in its 11th year,
    visit:
    http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index
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