Yerevan /Mediamax/. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Central Bank (CB) of Armenia presented 12 graduates of the Basic Course on training actuaries with certificates.

The Course was realized by USAID Financial Sector Deepening Project (FSDP) in cooperation with the UK Actuarial Profession (UKAP) and the Armenian CB.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at the presentation of certificates, FSDP consultant on pension and insurance issues Richard Webb informed that the training course was realized by specialists from Great Britain and, added that the curriculum, training and the examinations are based and assessed on international standards.

Substantial completion of the Basic Training is a prerequisite for admission into the Advanced Training, which has already been initiated and will be completed in 2010. The graduates of the first Basic Course are eligible for licensing by the CB as Responsible Actuaries for insurance companies.

Director of the Armenia Economic Growth Office of USAID Ralph Anderson, who was present at the ceremony, noted that it is important that first actuaries have appeared in Armenia in conditions of the global financial crisis, adding that one of the reasons of the crisis is wrong assessment of risks.

Member of Armenian CB Board Vakhtang Abramyan congratulated the graduates, noting that the actuarial activity is one of the basic components of insurance. He noted that the process of training professional actuaries will be continuous, “since there is great demand for specialists in the given sphere in the Armenian market”.