rman]; Constitutional Rights Union [Hrant KHACHATRYAN]; Democratic
Liberal Party/Ramkvar Azatakyan or DL/RA [Ruben MIRZAKHANIAN, chairman];
Law and Unity Party [Artashes GEGAMIAN, chairman]; Law-Governed Party
[Artur BAGDASARIAN, chairman]; National Accord Front [Ashot MANUTCHARIAN];
National Democratic Alliance [Arshak ZADOYAN]; National Democratic Party
[Shavarsh KOCHARIAN]; National Democratic Union or NDU [Vazgen MANUKIAN];
Pan-Armenian National Movement or PANM [Alex ARZOUMANYAN]; People's
Democratic Party [Gagik ASLANYAN]; People's Deputies Group [Hovhannes
HOVHANISSIAN]; People's Party of Armenia [Stepan DEMIRCHYAN]; Republic
Party [Aram SARGSIAN]; Republican Party or RPA [Andranik MARKARYAN];
Shamiram Women's Movement or SWM [Shogher MATEVOSIAN]; Social Democratic
(Hunchak) Party [Yeghia SHAMSHAYN]; Social Democratic Union (formerly
National Self-Determination Union) [Paruyr HAYRIKIAN]; Twenty-first
Century Party [David SHAKHNAZARIAN]; Unity Bloc [Stepan DEMIRCHIAN and
Andranik MARKARYAN] (a coalition of the Republican Party and People's
Party of Armenia); Yerkrapah Union [Manval GRIGORYAN]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE, CIS, EAPC,
EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer),
OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Arman
KIRAKOSIAN consulate(s) general: Los
[1] (202) 319-1976 chancery:
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador John
M. ORDWAY embassy: 18 Baghramyan Ave., Yerevan 375019 mailing address:
American Embassy Yerevan, Department of
[374](1) 521-611, 543-900 FAX:
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue,
and orange

Economy Armenia

Economy - overview: Under the old Soviet central planning system,
Armenia had developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine
tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in
exchange for raw materials and energy. Since the implosion of the
USSR in December 1991, Armenia has switched to small-scale agriculture
away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. The
agricultural sector has long-term needs for more investment and updated
technology. The privatization of industry has been at