Sooner or Later, There will be an Upswing in the Market: the World Bank on Mining

The report shows that whereas mining is important to the Armenian economy, individual operations are not generally contributing sufficiently to the longer term sustainable development of the nation. This is stated in the “Armenia: Strategic Mineral Sector Sustainability Assessment” report by the World Bank.

The World Bank considers this a reality despite a range of former and current initiatives, which have been implemented by the regulatory bodies for the purpose of sector reform.

“This is in spite of a range of past and ongoing initiatives taken by the regulators to reform the sector. These initiatives have, however, been taken without reference to a policy or longer term strategy. The world’s commodity markets are presently depressed, with generally low prices and low demand. However, the mining sector is cyclical and sooner or later, there will be an upswing in the market, and new investment will follow. Thus, the present is a fortuitous time for mining policy development, to ensure that when the next wave of development and investments arrives, Armenia will be well prepared to manage the various challenges and opportunities that such times entail,” the document reads.

Thus, main message of the report by the World Bank is to urgently initiate the process of development of national mining policy to accomplish which will require at least one year.