This Time It's Armenia: USAID Funds IT In Eurasia (to establish low cost IT outsource center)

[Robbien]

Source: Information Week

Even as controversy mounts over its funding of IT outsourcers in South Asia, the U.S. Agency for International Development has announced a program under which it will partner with the government of Armenia—a nation anxious to lure computer work from American shores--to promote the development of the country's information technology industry.

Jonathan Hale, USAID deputy assistant administrator for Europe & Eurasia, is on a four-day trip to Armenia to meet with government and private industry leaders in the country. On his agenda is a meeting with Armenian economic minister Nerses Yeritsyan.

"We look forward to partnering with USAID on the IT sector, which has great potential as Armenia has an advantage in this sector," Yeritsyan said in a statement released by USAID. "We want companies to come to Armenia and create their innovative environments," Yeritsyan said.

Among other things, Armenia is looking to establish itself as a center for low-cost IT and engineering work outsourced from the U.S. and other Western countries.

Read more: http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/disaster_recovery/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226600094&subSection=News

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What is wrong with these people?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Call me crazy, but didn't we liberals used to want people in other nations not to be impoverished?

Just sayin'...

[DJ13]

2. That was before our corporations moved overseas and we became impoverished

[OhioChick]

10. +1 n/t

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. Things might be bleak for a lot of people, but you need to get out more.

We are no where even close to impoverished. Not by a long shot. You might not even know what the word means if you're saying that.

[bitchkitty]

3. Are you such a philanthropist

that you're quitting your job in order to give it to someone else less fortunate than you? Or giving the majority of your income away because it's the right thing to do?

Why not give your job (assuming that you have a decent job) away, you can always work at McDonald's, right?

A global minimum wage is the answer, not forsaking one's own country to make a buck.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

17. Global minimum wage to do... what, exactly?

Jobs don't just appear, you know.

[bitchkitty]

25. Global minimum for IT workers. n/t

[Robbien]

4. Developing industries which benefit their own countries

not ones which devastate ours is the sort of program we had in mind.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

19. The world's resources are not infinite.

If you put something in one place, it must be taken from another.

[Robbien]

22. Then benefiting the poor in one country

shouldn't necessarily mean taking away from the middle class in the US thus increasing poverty here.

There are many pockets bulging with money which could easily take the hit (i.e. corporate profits).

Automatically putting the burden on the middle class is being standard with government programs these days.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

23. So we should just donate money to them for life?

That's insane. Either care about them or don't - but don't pretend you do and then say they shouldn't get an education.

[Robbien]

24. No, give them skills in areas which don't compete with us

We are doing almost nothing in renewable energy, so set up programs in that field.
Or teach them substance farming without carrying the Monsanto monkey on their back.
Or teach them skills on cleaning up the environment. There's a great need for that.

There are plenty of programs which can be pushed. Outsourcing American jobs should only be an option if and only if there are no other avenues. It should be the last choice, not the first.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

26. You're a moron. (nt)

[bergie321]

6. We want impoverished people

To be helped up. We don't want to send them our jobs. Give them money to form a competing company to microsoft, not a company to offshore American jobs for microsoft.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. How do you think those things get started, pray tell?

You need people capable of doing the work there. The companies don't just spring up without people who know what they're doing.

[pampango]

14. That was before we realized that keeping them impoverished was good for us. The "new" liberal

sees the development of industries in an impoverished nation like Armenia as a way to use their poverty to attack us and our welfare. For our government to assist them in their development is seen as a betrayal of Americans in this "new" liberal view of Third World poverty. They, I believe, would support development in places like Armenia if we could somehow just wall off the effects of this development from ourselves.

Repubs tell our middle class and poor, "We have ours and you ain't getting it! We need more tax cuts for the rich, less regulation, no 'death taxes', etc. We'll live in gated, walled communities so that we aren't affected by the problems you poor folks seem to habitually suffer from. These are the good ol' days."

Our "new" liberals tell the world's poor, "We have ("had" is more accurate) ours and you ain't getting it (any more)!. We need more tariffs, immigration controls, anything to keep you and your stuff away from us. Let Europe, Canada, the Third World and everyone else trade with each other all they want! Maybe Europe and Canada don't see your development as a threat, but we do so just leave us alone. Make the world go away! We want our good ol' days back again!"

[MikeW]

5. how about this instead

You make sure you take care of Americans first. Were the ones that pay taxes.

I dont have any love for USAID funding as long as I see our government abandoning US citizens.

[dipsydoodle]

7. There is a side joke here

The BTC pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey should've run through Armenia - not Georgia. Armenia was considered to be too unstable.

nb that is not a personal criticism of Armenia : just a statement of fact.

[makhno]

9. Too close to Russia

A better reason for the BTC routing at the time would have been Armenia's close relationship with Russia. Georgia was--somewhat correctly, judging by the "Rose Revolution" and the Saakashvili puppet regime that is amazingly still in power--perceived as a more pliant client state, or strategic partner, if you will.

Regardless, USAID has been keeping Armenia's rather robust technology sector afloat for the better part of the past decade through projects involving CMU, NYU and other American universities. I guess the time has come to reap some private sector benefits. Also, Iranian interests are pretty heavily invested in Armenia, so it's a business/geopolitical win-win if the U.S. can turn the country into a reliable client state, strategic partner, or whatever the nomenclature du jour is.

[Wilms]

11. The lack of stability aside, I'll bet Turkey pushed for that pipeline to bypass Armenia.

:shrug:

[dipsydoodle]

13. Turkey didn't have had any say in the subject

Security was the issue and even in Georgia its route was policed - still is probably.

Documentary video here if of interest : http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/video_cover-ups.htm

Scroll down and look for BBC Storyville - The Curse of Oil Part 2 The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that transports oil from the Caspian to the Mediterranean Sea.

[Wilms]

15. Thanks. n/t

[UndertheOcean]

8. USAID is the new Hitler. n/t

[ProSense]

12. One-half of one percent of the budget

USAID

[Lance_Boyle]

21. One half of one percent TOO MUCH of the budget.

USAID does not need to be spending US taxpayer dollars on programs designed to put Americans out of work.

[Duer 157099]

20. Countries (like India) that badly need adequate infrastructure, clean water, etc

Have no business conducting IT phone banks in huts when the real industry they need to be working on is dealing with the horrendous poverty and lack of infrastructure in the poorest areas. imho.

The only reason the west wants to sponsor IT education is for the benefit of the WEST. If this were to benefit the local communities, it would all be about infrastructure.