On the sidelines of his visit to Tavush Province, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday called at the Berd subsidiary of Tavush Textile Company, the PM’s office said.

Accompanied by the company’s top executives, the premier toured the facility to get acquainted with the production of working gloves. He was told that 520 people are currently employed at Tavush Textile’s local workshops with an average salary of 145,000 drams. The company exported AMD 2 billion-worth output to Russia and Georgia last year. The exports are supposed to increase by 40-50% this year, and steps are being taken to extend the geographical coverage of exports.

Tavush Textile has invested about 10 million dollars since 2015. As a result of a 1 million dollar investment, the number of machine tools has been increased by 600 that will augment the number of jobs by 150-200. Overall, the company plans to provide 1000-1500 new jobs over the next few years.

Pashinyan next visited a livestock farm established with funds available from Himnatavush Development Foundation in Lusadzor community. It has a high milk yield of 200 cows. Various types of French cheese are produced there. Most of the output is exported to Russia. The company representatives advised that 800,000 euros are annually invested in the farm. At the same time, they noted that milk and forage are being purchased from neighboring farms.

The PM attached importance to the development of light industry and farms in Tavush province, stressing that the government is prepared to possibly support the development and expansion of business programs in the region.

Highlighting the imperative of having ecologically clean food products produced in our country, Pashinyan said Armenia should boast an image of eco country in the international arena. He expressed the hope that the aforementioned companies will soon reach industrial levels to generate new jobs.