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The Loan Agreement on State Sector Modernization Project 4 signed between the Republic of Armenia and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is 26 mln 500 thousand EUR. The Government considered it expedient to design and implement the State Sector Modernization Project 4 with the support of the World Bank in order to ensure the continuity of the achievements of the previous three State Sector Modernization Projects implemented with the support of the World Bank and to modernize the state administration system with the introduction of additional innovations. The RA Deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee Ashot Muradyan noted about this at the NA regular sitting on September 12, presenting the draft law on Ratifying the Loan Agreement on State Sector Modernization Project 4 signed between the Republic of Armenia and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on March 15 and 18, 2022.

The purpose of the project is to support the modernization of the state administration system through continuous reforms of the civil service, digitalization of services provided by state and local self-government bodies, and the introduction of chosen electronic management system.

According to Ashot Muradyan, the activities included in the project will provide an opportunity to support the modernization of civil service and tax administration systems, introduce cyber security and related institutional mechanisms, and establish a unified center for state data management.

As a result of the modernization of a wide range of public services, it is planned to increase the efficiency and accessibility of the provided public services for businesses and citizens, contributing to the inclusive economic growth.

At the request of the Chair of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gevorg Papoyan, Ashot Muradyan presented the programs to be implemented in the SRC in detail, noting that the amount allocated to the SRC will be the largest, as extensive programs were proposed. The first direction is the development of mobile applications in the field of providing electronic services by tax and customs authorities. Most of the services in the field of customs and tax administration are provided exclusively electronically, however there are no services provided through mobile applications, which creates certain problems. According to Ashot Muradyan, as a result of the joint studies carried out with the World Bank, they received recommendations from taxpayers justifying the need to use mobile applications. It is necessary to implement the second phase of modernization of the Unified Tax Account program introduced in 2018 in order to achieve that goal. The next direction is the formation of appropriate offices for individuals through appropriate mobile and internet applications, as a result of which they will be able to receive the entire spectrum of electronic services through that platform.

The project will implement simplified tax administration within the framework of tax reforms.

The State Sector Modernization Project 3 has started the process of digitization of criminal proceedings, which will be completed this year, and it is planned with the project 4 to implement digitization and integration of work with courts and documents of judicial process.

According to the member of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Arusyak Manavazyan, the Head Committee endorsed the draft law.

In his final speech, the RA Deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee Ashot Muradyan informed that it is planned to gather 400 services of local self-government and central administration on one common platform. Modern, easier methods of identification are envisaged.