In the World Economic Forum's Networked Readiness Index 2013, Armenia has risen by 12 positions. Nevertheless, it still lags far behind its neighbors.  

The Armenian-Turkish protocols are on the agenda of the Turkish Parliament. Subsequently, the process of normalization of the bilateral relations is still going on, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Washington. 

"I expect nothing extraordinary from the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents," an Armenian MP, ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party Faction, Vahan Hovhannisyan told reports, Tuesday. 

 Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev will be discussing issues that were not settled during their previous meetings, a member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party Faction in the Parliament, Artsvik Minasyan, told reports on 19 November.  He anticipates nothing extraordinary from the upcoming meeting. 

  The upcoming meeting of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will bring no changes to the Karabakh peace talks, Armen Martirosyan, Vice Chairman of Heritage Party, told reporters, on 19 November.

On Monday, November 18, some 150 people joined a few members of the Yerevan-based Civilitas Foundation staff to mark the beginning of an enhanced Civilitas presence in Istanbul.  

An international conference on carpet weaving traditions in Armenia will be held in Yerevan on Nov 20-22 2013, for experts from the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and other countries to study Armenia's carpet weaving culture and to discuss modern carpet recovery technologies.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had a phone conversation with Secretary of State John Kerry on 18 November evening. 

In an attempt to close the as yet unresolved offshore financial scandal involving Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Ararat Diocese Locum Tenens Archbishop Navasart Kjoyan, a team of police investigators travelled to Cyprus in September to verify if the signatures of the two on a company registry document were fake or not.

Chairman of the National Self- Determination Union, will hold a rally to protest against Armenia's accession to the Customs Union. Hayrikyan says on his Facebook page that he has applied to the Municipality of Yerevan to get a permit to hold the rally in Liberty Square on November 28 and 29.      

 Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu and US Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed the Karabakh issue, US Department of State said.

Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev have agreed to give a new impulse to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

 Shant Haroutiunyan, Leader of Tseghakron Party, may undergo forensic psychiatric expert examination, the Public Relations Office of the Armenian Police told ArmInfo.

 Accession to the Customs Union (CU) implies introduction of a new single currency or linking of the national currencies of the CU countries to the Russian ruble in future, Hrant Bagratyan, oppositionist MP, the former prime minister of Armenia told reports, Tuesday. He is sure that the Central Bank of Armenia will lose its regulatory functions, if this happens.

"With accession to the CU, many products will rise in price in the local market, as single customs duties - higher than they are now - will be applied.  For instance, cigarettes and alcohol will rise in price due to difference in the customs duties (7% in Armenia now, 15% in the CU), imported meat (nearly 10% in Armenia and 60% in the CU). We usually buy pork for 3500 per kg on the threshold of the New Year holidays, meanwhile, it will cost 6000 drams/kg at the end of the current year. The customs tax for import of cars will increase to 20%-25% from 15%. The change of the customs duties is not even discussed, as it is the essence of the CU," Bagratyan said.

In addition, introduction of the accumulative pension system and creation of pension funds rules out export of these funds (nearly $150 million) outside the CU, he said.

To recall, on September 3, 2013 in Moscow the Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin confirmed the aim of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation in the direction of further development of economic integration processes in the Eurasian territory. Earlier on 21 October, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told the heads of the CIS mass media outlets that there are many uncertainties in the issue of Armenia's accession to the CU.  Lukashenko believes that Armenia cannot access the Union overnight.  The country is to pass all the necessary procedures to the CU, like to the WTO, the president said.

The Customs Union has been created within the Eurasian economic space for trade and economic integration of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011. CU is one of the biggest integration unions in the world with a population of 170 mln people and GDP of $2.7 trillion. 

 The meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev has kicked off in Austrian capital city Vienna.

 The business community of Japan has a rather poor idea of Armenia in general and of the Armenian economy potential in particular, Armenian Ambassador to Japan Hrant Poghosyan said in his interview with ArmInfo. He said that the mutual relationship of Armenia and Japan is based on mutual respect, however, it is often associated with the age-old chicken and egg dilemma.    

 Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to visit Armenia in early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.  

Unibank has raised the rate of the Profitable+ time deposit, thereby increasing the deposit yield for individuals.    

 Heritage Party has condemned the statement adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee of Armenia's National Assembly and the CIS and Eurasian Integration Committee of Russia's State Duma on Sunday. 

 The video cameras and speed recorders in Yerevan's streets are inefficient, because the number of road accidents has not only failed to decline, but also has grown even more, says the Armenian National Congress' statement sent to ArmInfo.