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 priority areas of the ministry’s 2025 activity and the results recorded in terms of implementing the performance indicators set within their framework.

It was noted that the main priorities of the ministry in the reporting year were digitalization, the application of artificial intelligence tools in real life, the development of the technological ecosystem, the telecommunications sector, as well as the legislative improvement of the use and regulation of radio frequencies. The results of the work carried out in the mentioned areas were presented, as well as the steps planned for the first half of 2026.

It was reported that the implementation of the 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 has been provided to economic entities for the purpose of attracting labor migrants, hiring new employees, as well as training employees. Currently, applications for support are accepted through an electronic platform, ensuring automated calculation and decision-making on the provision of support.

It was emphasized that the Ministry of High-Tech Industry, in cooperation with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Mistral AI, a European leader in the field of 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 throughout the entire chain of scientific research activities and product development. 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, starting in 2027, the Firebird AI computing resource through a subsidy.

At the same time, the pilot program of state support for ensuring access to high-performance computing resources in the field of artificial intelligence was approved by the state, and the application process has started. It is planned to develop the technical terms of reference for the citizen-artificial intelligence dialogue platform in the first half of 2026 and organize a competition or sign a contract with the relevant organization on its basis. The platform is designed to provide citizens with quick and complete information on issues related to the activities, programs and powers of the ministry, through calls and electronic communication, with the direct participation of artificial intelligence. Mkhitar Hayrapetyan noted that artificial intelligence is planned to be introduced into the call centers of departments. “The solution already exists in Armenia, a person calls, voice-to-text and text-to-voice technology in Armenian works there, which is already a reality. We are closing the entire chain, the algorithm has been developed by technology companies,” 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 divisions 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 Prime Minister noted that digitalization should always be on the list of priorities 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 one of the mandatory priorities 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 implemented in the field of use and regulation of radio frequencies and their practical impact were reported. Reference was also made to the legislative changes implemented in the audiovisual media sector.

The agreement signed within the framework of cooperation with the international company Plug and Play was presented. During the three-year cooperation, incubation, pre-acceleration and acceleration programs will be implemented, each involving 15–20 startups. Within the framework of the program, specialists with international experience will arrive in Armenia to provide mentoring support, business consulting and the opportunity to establish business contacts to the participating startups.

The process of developing the strategic program for the development of the High-Tech sector was discussed. Analytical reports have already been developed, priority technological directions have been defined, and work on the formation of strategic goals, the preparation of an action plan and discussions with stakeholders is currently underway. The strategic program is planned to be approved in the first half of 2026.

The process of introducing the Starlink high-speed satellite Internet connection services was reported, which have already been launched in Armenia since March 27, 2025, ensuring reliable and high-speed Internet access throughout the country, including remote and hard-to-reach settlements.

The work carried out in cooperation with the companies Mistral AI, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Firebird AI was also presented. In particular, the Firebird AI company plans to invest about 500 million USD in Armenia to create a large 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.