ARKA: EDB reports that Armenian nationals prefer investment from Russia and the U.S

Armenian residents prefer foreign investment from Russia and the U.S. These are the findings of the EDB Integration Barometer 2015 report distributed by Eurasian Development Bank's (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies. This year, over 11,000 people from nine CIS countries - Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine - took part in the poll. To determine the preferred sources of investment and business activity, respondents from the CIS countries were asked, "From what countries would it be desirable for our country to have an inflow of capital and investment, or of companies, entrepreneurs and businesspeople to set up their businesses?" According to the poll, 46% of Armenian respondents would prefer investment from Russia and 45% from the U.S. The researchers point out that Russia has strengthened its positions in Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, with weak positive dynamics. At the same time, Russian investment is the most preferred one in Tajikistan (69%) and the Kyrgyz Republic (59%). Georgia and Ukraine would prefer American investment (52% and 46% of respondents, accordingly). As for the EU countries, the most preferred among the population are Germany (34%) and France (31%). The survey has shown that Armenia is more orientated towards investment from "other" countries. A total of 54% of respondents said they would prefer investment from other countries (vs. 37% in the previous poll). "This distribution suggests the countries' high openness to foreign investment, however their rather high "autonomy" does not let us draw an unequivocal conclusion," the EDB researchers note. At the same time, 47% of respondents in Armenia would prefer investment from the CIS and EU countries (37% in the previous poll). The overall distance among clusters, as recorded in the 2015 survey, is insignificant: the CIS countries, the EU and "other countries" were mentioned in equal proportions on average (43%, 43% and 47% of respondents, respectively). However, the differentiation of preferences among countries suggests different orientations towards sources of investment. According to the National Statistics Service, the total flow of foreign investment in Armenia's real sectors (net flows calculated as a difference between net inflows and net outflows of FDI) in the first six months of 2015 was AMD 81.9 billion (around US $171.5 million), up 6% or AMD 4.7 million year-on-year. The largest investors in Armenia in the period were Germany (AMD 11.1 billion, or US $23.2 million), Cyprus (AMD 11 billion, or US $22.9 million), the UAE (AMD 9.3 billion, or US $19.6 million), the Virgin Islands (AMD 8.4 billion, or US $17.7 million), Argentina (AMD 7.8 billion, or US $16.3 million), and Canada (AMD 6 billion, or US $12.7 million). The EDB Integration Barometer is a research undertaken by Eurasian Development Bank's (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies in partnership with Eurasian Monitor, an international research agency, since 2012. The objective of the research is to monitor integration preferences among the populations of post-Soviet countries (the CIS countries and Georgia) and to assess their foreign policy, foreign trade, social and cultural attitudes. The report presents the key results of the fourth wave of the project. EDB is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.