From 23 to 26 January, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan traveled to Switzerland to attend the Davos World Economic Forum. This is the first time that Armenia participated to the international event in nearly 10 years.
Three thousand participants attended the event.
For some Western countries and media, the Davos Forum is just a concentration of dollars and political power. Banks, big companies gather to discuss the future of the world’s economy, humanitarian affairs, and state of affairs. Skeptics question the participants’ willingness to tackle some of the largest global challenges.
But for developing countries, the Forum is an opportunity to get in touch with big companies and countries to attract collaboration, investment, and visibility.
Why Armenia participated?
– “This is a very good platform where one can exchange ideas, present a vision and also listens to others,’’ said Prime Minister – Karen Karapetyan.
– Aleksandr Khachaturyan, an advisor to Armenia’s Prime Minister, mentioned that this is an occasion to talk about both private initiatives, Business to Business (B2B) meetings, but also be part of the discussion on global issues.
– “We thought that it would be a good visibility for the country because we haven’t been there for awhile,” said Khachaturyan.
What was Armenia’s agenda during those 3 days?
– Meetings with both government and private sector representatives.
– Ensuring prospects of bilateral development with countries and institutions.
– Attending conferences on political, economic, humanitarian, cultural and social topics.
What does Armenia have to offer to the Davos Forum?
– A country approach platform: as a small country, Armenia has interesting opportunities and pivilerged trade regimes. E.g: the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) agreement, the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
– PM K. Karapetyan talked about the possibility of bilateral exemption of taxes with Singapore.
What outcomes back in Yerevan?
– A meeting with the Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte and possible collaboration on smart agriculture to reform the sector in Armenia.
– Investments in the area of digitization.
The Davos experience was another step to attract companies and countries to invest in Armenia.
“We have to be honest with each and every investors. We just have to show them what we have and we have a lot of things to show,” concluded Khachaturyan.
Ani Paitjan
