- ACCA News- Networking Night Announced for 28th June
- Australian Business News- Australian Armenian Scientist profiled in the Sydney Morning Herald
- Armenian News- 2nd Nuclear Power Plant's Future Unclear
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The Chamber's next networking night will be held at Miramare Gardens on Wednesday 28th June, starting at 6.30pm. For $40 you will enjoy a 2 course dinner with coffee, and have fun socialising with your fellow chamber members. Drinks will be available for purchase at the open bar, as will cigars. Miramare Gardens is situated at 289 Mona Vale Rd, Terry Hills. Further information regarding this function will follow, however if you are interested in attending please RVSP to the Chamber's administrator, Elaine Clayton on 0425 272 292.
Travel Cafe Sydney is currently preparing a package for Chamber members who are interested in visiting Armenia to learn more about the business opportunities the country can offer. This trip is currently scheduled for September 2006, and a minimum of ten persons are needed. The highlight of this tour will be attendance at the Armenian Economic Forum (18-19 September), which is being held by the Ministry of Trade and Economic Decelopment. For all enquiries regarding this tour, please contact Harmick Hacobian on 0418 646 246.
YOU SHOULD BY NOW HAVE RECEIVED YOUR PRIORITY INFORMATION PACK FOR ADVERTISING IN THE 2006 ARMENIAN PLATINUM BUSINESS DIRECTORY...
TO CRACK THE MAZE: SCIENCE IS ABOUT PATIENCE
Award-winning medical researcher Levon Khachigian compares his work to a game of Pac-Man.
As a schoolboy, Levon Khachigian, born in
A leading member of the Centre for Vascular Research at the
The 42-year-old violin enthusiast specialises in heart-related illnesses, working to find links that could uncover the mysteries of diseases.
In March, his team uncovered a complex network of molecules that use multiplying "middle men", or transcription factors, to block arteries.
The find was music to the medical world's ears, raising the possibility of preventing common heart diseases.
Khachigian hopes to soon unveil - once testing is complete - a drug that could be used to treat heart attacks, prevent solid tumour growths and potentially treat common inflammatory diseases.
"It has the potential to be a super drug ... that can be applied to multiple disease settings," he says.
It is for work such as this that Khachigian received the Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Medical Research and the
He knows that accolades only recognise what he has done, while millions of people stand to benefit by what he can do next. "In
Clearly more research needs to be done to try and improve the quality of life for people, to keep them out of our hospitals and having a long and productive life.
"I felt that heart research - or cardiovascular research - had multiple benefits that would spruce up not only our health and productivity but also our economy."
His parents migrated to
"My parents were missionaries in the
"It was towards the end of year 9 that I became interested in science because I was encouraged to ask questions. I jumped up to 10S1 [the top science class in year 10] because I was given the opportunity to ask questions, and that curiosity never left me. I got into science to do research. It was a means to an end."
After a science degree and a PhD, Khachigian was awarded a doctorate of science in vascular pathobiology.
He is also the president of the Australian Society of Medical Research, a position he is using to lobby for more funding.
"If we invest in health research, the Australian economy and our social fabric benefits. It is an investment that has few parallels."
But like all scientists, he knows only too well the "one step forward, two steps back" method.
"It is kind of like Pac-Man. You go down a path eating away at certain questions, and there comes a certain point where you know you're not yielding productive answers, so you basically come out of that avenue and press on and ask different questions or tackle another problem.
"Science is about patience teamed with persistence, and flavoured by wisdom to know what is likely to yield productive results and what will not.
"I feel enormously privileged to be a part of the family of health and medical research in this country."
This year’s awards include a new national award which recognises that micro and small businesses can be just as successful in the international marketplace as larger companies.
This new award showcases outstanding export achievement by any business with total annual sales not exceeding $5 million.
A new category at the State level is India Exporter, highlighting the growing importance of
Tourism becomes Sports, Events and Tourism, recognising that inbound tourism is often associated with major sporting activities and other significant conferences and events.
NSW Minister for Small Business David Campbell recently launched the awards, saying they were an opportunity to celebrate publicly the outstanding success of NSW exporters in a range of industries.
“Winning an award showcases a company’s achievements as an exporter and highlights its business excellence.
“The NSW Government, which is the principal sponsor of these awards, actively promotes exporting as a business development strategy.
“The Government sponsors two award categories – the overall NSW Exporter of the Year Award and the Regional Exporter of the Year Award, an award which underlines the significance of regional NSW in export growth.”
The awards, now in their 38th year, are organised by the Australian Institute of Export. Entries close on August 25, with winners to be announced a gala dinner at
NSW Business's Reaction to the Federal Budget
Source: www.australianbusiness.com.au
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Improving skills and not the surplus should be focus of economic policy
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Major initiatives in lifting workforce participation welcome
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Treasurer should now develop a White Paper on taxation reform in Australia
The end of net debt for the Australian Government, continued surpluses and strong taxation revenues from company and resources taxation, have ensured that Australia’s financial position will be strong for the medium term said leading business organisation ABL State Chamber.
“This Budget, and future Budgets, must now be assessed on their capacity to make Australia even more competitive through improved workforce participation”, said Mark Bethwaite, Chief Executive of ABL State Chamber.
“Australia will become in the next year a trillion dollar economy and the size of the Government surplus no longer represents the main game or the primary objective of Government economic policy.
“Lifting Australia’s skills base and increasing broader opportunity for workforce participation are the keys to long term economic growth.
“Business welcomes the initiatives to improve access to child care, cut PAYE Tax rates and increase family benefits.
“Encouraging and supporting parents to enter and return to the workforce through improved access to child care, providing additional training, lifting skilled migration and providing the right tax incentives to families are all critical in helping increase the pool of workers available to Australian businesses.
“Changing demographics and an ageing population will put pressures on all Australian businesses. Finding and keeping good workers is the number one concern of Australian businesses today.
Mr Bethwaite welcomed the tax changes announced in relation to the diminishing value rate for depreciation and changes to capital gains tax for small business.
“The depreciation changes will encourage investment by Australian businesses in new plant and technology and is recognition that Australia needs to continue fostering a business environment based on innovation.
Mr Bethwaite said the delivery of the largest surplus on record by the Treasurer will only add to the calls for taxation reform and the Treasurer should lead this debate by developing a White Paper on Australia’s future taxation needs.
“The Australian Government received $187 billion in taxation revenue in 2003/04 and in 2006/07 is will be $231 billion in 2006/07. This is an increase in taxation revenue of $44 billion, or 24% in three years.
“Over the past three years, Treasury has underestimated the size of surpluses by a combined figure of $23 billion.
“We are tackling taxation reform in a piecemeal fashion.
“The Treasurer should commence work on a White Paper detailing Australia’s long term taxation needs, the risks of potential economic shocks and providing options for taxation reform.
“The Treasurer can take credit for the fundamental change in the Australian economy over the past ten years. However, the challenge before the Government is to commence and manage a debate on long term reform of the Australian taxation system.
Leading business organisation ABL State Chamber said the release of the timetable to abolish NSW nuisance taxes whilst welcome was half hearted.
“Business has long supported the abolition of the nuisance taxes. However, the timetable unveiled today is neither expedient nor ambitious” said Mark Bethwaite, Chief Executive of ABL State Chamber.
“A shorter timetable would require the Government to pay for the removal of these taxes through improved efficiencies and expenditure cuts. The six year plan outlined today, I suspect, will be paid for by rising revenues in other areas.
“The Government should have moved faster, but I also appreciate the Budget pressures NSW is facing.
“Business is pleased that we have seen improvements in taxation policy in NSW since August last year. These have all been welcome. However, the major test of the State Government’s commitment to improving the competitive position of NSW businesses will be in the State Budget. We have to reduce the total taxation burden on NSW businesses, particularly through cutting payroll tax.
“It should be noted that next year alone, the State Government expects to raise an additional $400 million in payroll tax. By 2008/09, payroll tax collections will be over $1 billion more than they are today. The abolition of small taxes is good, but it has to be part of a strategy of overall taxation reduction.
“We do need to reduce NSW business taxes to levels of that of our major interstate competitors. That is one of the reasons why ABL State Chamber joined with our Victorian employer counterpart (VECCI) in a delegation to the Prime Minister’s Office last Friday arguing for reform of the GST distribution.
Article Posted on 04.05.2006
Source: www.australianbusiness.com.au
“On the positive side, the Government has to be congratulated for responding to calls by employers for changes to the duty of care, clarification of the obligations of officers of corporations, making clear the responsibility employees have for their own safety and the introduction of enforceable undertakings as an alternative to prosecutions”, said Greg Pattison, General Manager, Workplace Solutions at ABL State Chamber.
“It was the view of the twenty five employer groups that ABL State Chamber brought together for the business submission to the OH&S Review, that the way the duty of care was being applied actually worked against creating safer workplaces. Requiring those with a duty of care under the OH&S Act to do that which is reasonably practical not only brings NSW in line with most other States is likely to better promote improved workplace safety.
“These are all positive steps.
“It is however disappointing that the Government has maintained the ability of Unions to prosecute employers. Allowing unions to prosecute and receive a portion of any fines imposed for their efforts does not inspire confidence in the system. We support the right of WorkCover alone to launch prosecutions.
“It is a concern that the NSW Government has provided Unions the right to enter workplaces under the guise of discussions about OH&S matters. It is difficult to see how the proposal is anything other than a device intended to get around the Commonwealth’s WorkChoices legislation.
“This risks bringing industrial relations back into OH&S.
Mr Pattison said he noted the comments of the Minister regarding a change in approach by WorkCover to assist employers in making NSW workplaces even safer.
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Article Posted on 27.04.2006
Source: Arka News Agency
A cocktail reception was held at the Golden Tulip Hotel Yerevan on Tuesday 18th April to welcome Andrew Coxshall and his wife Fiona to KPMG’s Yerevan Office. Andrew will be the Partner in Charge of Audits for
Attending the event were leading members of the business community, diplomats and government ministers. Special guests included the Chairman of the Central Bank, Chairmen of several leading Banks, representatives from the British, US and French Embassies, Roger Robinson- Head of the World Bank in
Andrew Coxshall, a Fellow of the
Roger Robinson, Country Manager for the World Bank in
Roger Munnings expressed his confidence in the continued success of the Armenian economy and commented that KPMG was proud of the team of professionals in its
KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. It is the only one of the ‘Big 4’ Worldwide Accounting and Consultancy companies operating in Armenia and currently has over 70 staff to provide audit and assurance services on tax and financial issues to major Armenian, Georgian and global companies in addition to a wide range of non-governmental organizations and financial institutions. KPMG takes pride in its ability to listen to the opinions of its clients and analyze the challenges they face, helping it to offer a wide range of high quality services meeting the specific needs of each and every client.
Article Posted on 18.04.2006
Source: AZG Newspaper
Whilst in Vanadzor, Dimitrov also visited a chemical factory, where he toured its corundum workshop and became acquainted with the company’s product range. He also visited B. Darbinian Ltd (formerly the Gloria garment factory), the
"I love Vanadzor which resembles my native
WORLD BANK SIGNS OFF ON
Source: AZG Newspaper
The World Bank has in the last month approved
According to the press service of RA’s Finance and Economy Ministry, the country’s Minister for Finance and the Economy, Vartan Khachatrian, and Roger Robinson, Head of the World Bank’s Yerevan Office, had signed the agreement.
The financial sources allocated within the abovementioned program will be spent to implement the projects of the renewable energy fund. In turn, this fund will allocate financial assistance to private investors through a financial mediator.
It is expected that an additional 80 megawatts of energy capacity will be generated within the framework of renewable energy production. This will increase the annual indicator of electricity generation by 200 kilowatts per hour. The project also envisages that carbonic acid pollution will decrease by approximately 130 thousand tones annually as a result of the program.
LITHUANIA TO DEVELOP COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH
Article Posted on 26.04.2006
Source: Arka News Agency
"Our countries have many talented people who can contribute to the development of our relations. But the lack of information on each other is a shortcoming in our relations," Adamkus said.
According to Lithania’s president, the exchange of information, talented students and bilateral meetings will contribute to the development of Armenian-Lithuanian relations.
"This is good diplomacy for the development of our relations," Adamkus said.
During his two day long visit to
During their private meetings, the leaders discussed bilateral relations,
After the meeting between Adamkus and Margaryan, the leaders emphasized the importance of business conferences, frequent mutual visits, periodic exchange of business information and organization of exhibitions for encouragement of trade and economic relations.
“Extension is necessary in the cooperation between chambers of commerce and industry, manufacturers and enterprise unions, strengthening of interaction in the field of small- and medium-scale enterprises’ development, and also fields of science, technologies, innovation policy, agriculture, transport and tourism,” they said.
During the course of the Lithuanian visit, the two countries’ vice-ministers of agriculture and transport presented possibilities of cooperation in these fields. Adamkus stressed the necessity in improving transport networks, including putting the Abkhazian railway into operation. Margaryan responded that
The leaders also touched upon cooperation in the sphere of energy, particularly in energy security issues.
The private meetings were followed by enlarged Armenian-Lithuanian negotiations. The sides discussed the priorities and ways of developing economic cooperation. The Armenian and Lithuanian Governments signed an agreement on mutual encouragement and protection of investments.
COMMISSION FINES COMPANY FOR USING MISLEADING LABELS
Article Posted on 03.05.2006
Source: Armenpress
The Armenian Government’s Commission for Protection of Economic Competition has ruled today to impose a 100,000 Drams (approximately $222) fine on a Super SG Group company for selling mineral water with confusing labels that buyers may mistake for the labels of the Jermuk company.
The ruling was the result of a request from the Armenian Agency for Intellectual Property which said the company did not register a trade mark of its own, and instead used the trade mark that was registered by the Jermuk group.
The fined company’s representative, Eduard Chinoyan, argued that the design of the bottles used by Jermuk group and the label had been used by different companies during the Soviet Era when the Jermuk group did not exist. These arguments were dismissed by the Commission, which ordered the company to replace the label on its bottles and collect its existing product from trading outlets within 40 days.
The meeting will discuss a wide scope of issues of bilateral interest with the agenda including issues on measures to promote Armenian economical development, democratic reforms, issues pertaining to the Millennium Challenges Account program, and reforms in the areas of customs and taxation. Also discussed will be agriculture, energy, education, judicial sectors related issues.
The US-Armenian Task Force was founded in 2002 to promote US-Armenian cooperation. The Task Force holds two annual meetings, one in
Photo is of Vartan Khachatrian
The USA Government is concerned about the construction of a new nuclear power station in
Tom Adams, the coordinator of the American Government on European and Asian assistance, the chief of the USA delegation and the co-chair of the Armenian - American working group noted, “At present our position is the following; there is a better alternative for the 2nd nuclear power station, we are against the construction of the new one taking into account the seismic instability of Armenia and the earthquake which occurred not long ago.”
The American Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia John Evans expressed his concern on this score, “We realize that
RA Minister of Finances and Economy Vardan Khachatryan who was the Armenian head of the working group, urged that all matters were discussed with the
This confusion over the future of
NEGATIVE BALANCE OF ARMENIAN FOREIGN TRADE AMOUNTS TO ABOUT $800 MILLION
Source: AZG Newspaper
US
GLOCOMS GROUP INTENT ON FURTHER INVOLVEMENT IN
ARMENIA
Article Posted on 26.04.2006
Source: Arka News Agency
The US Glocoms Group company has applied for participation in a tender for the selection of Fiscal Agents under the Millennium Challenges Corporation’s program in
The tender was announced by the Armenian office of the program and aims at providing Fiscal Agent services to assist the Government of Armenia to manage the
Glocoms group also intends to be involved in the USAID-sponsored program: “Development of Information Systems for the RA Police”. The company reports that it has applied for participation in the program and whilst it has yet to disclose the cost of the project, it has pointed out that the budget is rather substantial. The goal of the project, which is to be implemented before 2007, is the automation of the collection and processing of criminal information in order to enhance the efficiency of crime control and policing in
Glocoms Group was founded in 1998 and aims at providing solutions that grow from strength to strength. With offices in 5 continents and access to more than 800 senior level management and technology consultants worldwide, Glocoms Group is involved in more than 140 prominent national and international projects.
In 2005 Glocoms Group implemented international projects in the areas of finance, procurement, management, e-government and IT in Angola, Armenia, Bosnia, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Croatia, Gambia, Malawi, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Romania, USA, and Vietnam.
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21st May: Hambartsoom at Cabarita Park, Cabarita from 11am.
24th June: Abgoosht Karaoke. Only 100 tickets! To be held at Havakadegh Santa Rosa Park, Quarry Road, Ryde. For bookings call Anik Panosian 9875 2696 or 0405 151 708.
24th June: AGBU Centennial Ball. Starting at 7.00pm at the Crystal Palace, Luna Park, Milsons Point. Entertainment by Lucineh and Arpa. Donation of $125 includes pre dinner drinks at 7.00pm, 3 course meal, wine and beverages. For tickets please contact:
Lucy on 0412 216 307
28th June: Chamber's Networking Night, Miramare Gardens, Terry Hills, from 6.30pm. For enquiries please contact Elaine Clayton on 0425 272 292.
July
22nd July: Garoon's 15th Birthday celebrations. Villa Rosa Lounge. For more information please call Sissy on 0402 929 335.
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Shop 8, The Village, 43 Burns Bay Rd, Lane Cove, NSW 2066; PO Box 647 Lane Cove, NSW 1595
Phone: (02) 9418 9964; Fax: (02) 9418 6911; Web: www.armenianchamber.com.au; Email: info@armenianchamber.com.au
