Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Ministry of High-Tech Industry to discuss the department's 2025 activity report.
Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan presented the ministry's priority areas of activity for 2025 and the results achieved in implementing the performance indicators set within their framework.
It was noted that the ministry's main priorities in the reporting year were digitalization, the application of artificial intelligence tools in real-world settings, the development of the technological ecosystem, the telecommunications sector, and legislative improvements to the use and regulation of radio frequencies. The results of the work carried out in the mentioned areas were presented, along with the steps planned for the first half of 2026.
It was reported that the implementation of the RA Law "On State Support for the High-Tech Sector" has been fully ensured. Within the framework of the program, state support of 8.76 billion drams was provided to economic entities to attract labor migrants, hire new employees, and retrain employees. Currently, support applications are accepted through an electronic platform, enabling automated calculation and decision-making for support provision.
It was emphasized that the Ministry of High-Tech Industry, in cooperation with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Mistral AI, a European leader in artificial intelligence, has launched the Virtual Institute of Artificial Intelligence (ai.gov.am). It is an open platform that unites technology companies, researchers, and innovators to provide support across the entire scientific research and product development process. In response to the Prime Minister's question, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan noted that the virtual institute was created for students, startups, and researchers; they can apply and receive access to the supercomputer, other international services, and, from 2027, the Firebird AI computing resource through a subsidy.
At the same time, the state approved a pilot program to provide state support for ensuring access to high-performance computing resources for artificial intelligence, and the application process has begun. It is planned to develop the technical terms of reference for the citizen-artificial intelligence dialogue platform in the first half of 2026 and, based on it, organize a competition or sign a contract with the relevant organization. The platform is designed to provide citizens with quick, comprehensive information on the ministry's activities, programs, and powers via calls and electronic communication, with direct participation from artificial intelligence. Mkhitar Hayrapetyan noted that artificial intelligence is planned to be introduced into departmental call centers. "The solution already exists in Armenia, a person called, voice-to-text and text-to-voice technology in Armenian works there, which is now a reality. We are closing the entire chain; technology companies have developed the algorithm," the minister said, expressing confidence that it will work best.
Responding, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted: "I think we should do the following: we should look at what departments there are in different departments, calculate what budget and what positions there are. In the near future, we should make efforts to retrain and prepare our colleagues working in those departments for work."
At the same time, the head of state noted that digitalization should always be a priority for all departments. "That is, I do not see a situation in the foreseeable future when we say, okay, let's remove digitalization from the list of priorities and make it a regular planned event. Digitalization is a top priority for all ministries and departments. There cannot be a department where digitalization is not on the list of priorities," the Prime Minister added.
The legislative changes to the field of use and regulation of radio frequencies, and their practical impact, were reported. The legislative changes in the audiovisual media sector were also discussed.
The agreement signed under the cooperation framework with the international company Plug and Play was presented. During the three-year collaboration, incubation, pre-acceleration, and acceleration programs will be implemented, each involving 15–20 startups. Within the program, specialists with international experience are deployed to Armenia to provide mentoring, business consulting, and opportunities to build business contacts for participating startups.
The process of developing the strategic program for the High-Tech sector was discussed. Analytical reports have already been prepared, priority technological directions have been defined, and work is underway to formulate strategic goals, draft an action plan, and hold stakeholder discussions. The strategic program is scheduled for approval in the first half of 2026.
The introduction of "Starlink" high-speed satellite Internet services was reported; they have been launched in Armenia since March 27, 2025, providing reliable, high-speed Internet access throughout the country, including remote and hard-to-reach settlements.
The work carried out in cooperation with "Mistral AI", Amazon Web Services (AWS), and "Firebird AI" companies was also presented. In particular, Firebird AI plans to invest approximately USD 500 million in Armenia to build a large-scale artificial intelligence data center.
Issues related to the development of the military-industrial complex and the progress of programs implemented in this direction were also discussed.
