WT/TPR/M/379/Add.1 8 February 2019 (19-0742) Page: 1/57 Trade Policy Review Body Original: English/anglais/inglés 20 and 22 November 2018 TRADE POLICY REVIEW ARMENIA MINUTES OF THE MEETING Addendum Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Junichi Ihara (Japan) This document contains the advance written questions and additional questions by WTO Members, and replies provided by Armenia.1 Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales 20 et 22 novembre 2018 EXAMEN DES POLITIQUES COMMERCIALES ARMÉNIE COMPTE RENDU DE LA RÉUNION Addendum Président: S.E. M. Junichi Ihara (Japan) Le présent document contient les questions écrites communiquées à l'avance par les Membres de l'OMC, leurs questions additionnelles, et les réponses fournies par l'Arménie.1 Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales 20 y 22 de noviembre de 2018 EXAMEN DE LAS POLÍTICAS COMERCIALES ARMENIA ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN Addendum Presidente: Excmo. Sr. Junichi Ihara (Japan) En el presente documento figuran las preguntas presentadas anticipadamente por escrito y las preguntas adicionales de los Miembros de la OMC, así como las respuestas facilitadas por Armenia.1 _______________ 1 In English only/En anglais seulement/En inglés solamente. WT/TPR/M/379/Add.1 - 2 - TABLE OF CONTENTS ICELAND .......................................................................................................................... 3 CHINA .............................................................................................................................. 5 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ........................................................................................... 8 JAPAN ............................................................................................................................ 26 EUROPEAN UNION ......................................................................................................... 27 UKRAINE ........................................................................................................................ 38 CHILE ............................................................................................................................. 48 ARGENTINA .................................................................................................................... 50 THAILAND ...................................................................................................................... 52 CANADA ......................................................................................................................... 53 INDIA ............................................................................................................................ 56 WT/TPR/M/379/Add.1 - 3 - ICELAND On the occasion of the 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires last December more than 120 WTO Members and observers launched a joint declaration on women and economic empowerment that aims inter alia at sharing best practices and working together at the WTO to remove barriers for women's economic empowerment and increase their participation in trade. Report by the Secretariat – WT/TPR/S/379 The report by the Secretariat prepared for the Trade Policy Review of Armenia points out that the Armenian government aims to attract investment and improve the business climate, with the goal of raising economic growth and making it more inclusive. According to the report a large and diverse set of initiatives are underway in the business environment, public administration, financial sector and energy sector. Iceland has the following questions: • Could Armenia provide more information on these initiatives and whether they give particular attention to women, or gender equality considerations? Reply The legislation of the Republic of Armenia (RA), including the legislation regulating the business environment, does not have any provisions limiting the participation of women in the economy of Armenia or limiting the equality of men and women. Accordingly, the Government of the Republic of Armenia approves Business Environment Improvement Measures every year for the purpose of improving the business environment, which does not have gender discrimination. Moreover, within the framework of RA Government and Central Bank support to SME programs and to increasing SME financial access in Armenia by cooperating with international financial institutions, among several SME financing programs, a targeted international lending programme, "Women entrepreneurship support", is financed by the Asian Development Bank. • What is the participation of women in the Armenian economy? Reply The RA legislation regulating the business environment does not have any provisions restricting the equal participation of women in the economy. Having said that, while the share of female population is much higher in higher education, the level of female employment and participation in the economy of Armenia is lower compared to male. The Government of Armenia gives high importance to the equal opportunities for all, to which end constantly monitors the situation and conducts assessments to find out the barriers present and possible efficient ways to remove them. On the other hand, the female participation is higher in the public sector. The detailed statistics of employment of women in the economy by types of economic activity can be found in the official website of the Statistical Committee of Armenia, www.armstat.am. • Have particular barriers that limit women's participation in trade been identified? Reply As stated, there are no barriers to the participation of women in trade in accordance with the legislation of RA regulating the business environment. However, the participation of women in the economy is low and needs attention from the Government. WT/TPR/M/379/Add.1 - 4 - • Has Armenia implemented any particular measures to encourage women's participation in trade and promote women's entrepreneurship, or are such measures being developed? Reply A number of measures have been implemented or are in development to encourage women's participation in trade and promote women's entrepreneurship. In 2013, the RA Law "On Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women" was adopted, which sets out guarantees for equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women in political, social, economic, cultural and social life and regulates their relations. In 2012, the Government of Armenia requested ADB's support in promoting women entrepreneurship in the country, and a Sector Development Program (SDP). The programme comprises an integrated approach to enable women entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium- sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Armenia to play a greater role in economic development. The programme had two components: (i) a policy-based loan to help fund budget allocations to strengthen the business environment and the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center (SME DNC) of Armenia and its support for women entrepreneurs and MSMEs; and (ii) a financial intermediation loan (FIL) to enable participating financial institutions (PFIs) to provide local currency loans to MSMEs, of which at least 50% are women's MSMEs. The programme was supported by capacity development technical assistance (TA) to improve the entrepreneurial capacity of women and to increase the capacity of the SME DNC of Armenia, the project management unit of the German–Armenian Fund (PMU GAF), and PFIs to provide support for women's entrepreneurship. The number of support actions by SME DNC of Armenia directed to Women entrepreneurs in 2017 was around 4,200. The monitoring data on women trainees that presented business plans to FIԼ's is absent. But it should be mentioned that 25 out 79 (32%) of MSME which received financial support from SME DNC of Armenia in 2017 were Women entrepreneurs. To encourage new investments for the improvement of business environment a number of tax incentives are in place in accordance with the Tax Code of Armenia, regardless of the gender of the business entity. The draft Government Decree "On Approval of the 2019-2023 Action Plan of the Government of the Republic of Armenia" has been developed and will be presented to the RA Government by 10 December 2018. The promotion of women's entrepreneurship opportunities is one of the priority directions of the Action Plan. WT/TPR/M/379/Add.1 - 5 - CHINA Report by the Secretariat - WT/TPR/S/379 SUMMARY Page 8，Paragraph 12 In June 2011, Armenia adopted the Law on Free Economic Zones (FEZs) and, by the end of that year, had developed several regulations to attract foreign investment into FEZs through various incentives (e.g. tax-free profit for legal entities; no income tax for sole proprietors who are residents of FEZs; no property tax on public and industrial buildings and structures owned or leased by residents within FEZs; no customs charges or non-tariff measures applied on goods released under the "Free Customs Zone" procedure). Three FEZs are currently operational. 1. Could you please introduce the implementation of the Law on Free Economic Zones (FEZs), especially the implementation of various incentives to attract foreign investment and the outcome though the implementation of incentives? Reply Currently there are three free economic zones in Armenia: • "Alliance" FEZ, launched in August 2013 for a duration of is 10 years, is oriented towards the production and exports of high and innovative technologies. Currently the abovementioned FEZ is operated by 13 companies (6 of 13 operate from 2017 and 2 companies operate from 2018). The export volume