The following is an Armenian government press release.

On the second day of his visit to the United States, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended a Armenia-Los Angeles business forum. The forum drew some 250 participants including members of the California business community, Los Angeles business community leaders and representatives of the Armenian community in the United States.

Welcoming remarks were addressed to the Prime Minister of Armenia and his delegation by Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Maria S. Salinas, Los Angeles World Trade Center (WTCLA) President Stephen Cheung, Los Angeles Business Federation Founding Chief Executive Officer Tracy Hernandez and Los Angeles Central City Association Vice President Tina Oh.

Pashinyan, addressing the crowd, said:

“Distinguished members of the business community of California,
Representatives of the Armenian-American community,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here tonight, and it is my privilege to address the distinguished members of the Los Angeles business community, including the Armenian Community of the great state of California.

We see tremendous opportunities for tapping into California’s huge trade and investment potential. It is obvious that Armenia is the best match country for doing business with California. Winemaking, Information Technologies, tourism, and agriculture are among the most developed sectors of Armenia’s economy. At the same time, these are the areas where California is keeping global leadership for many decades. As we can see there is a fertile ground for joint business initiatives. The existence of a vigorous Armenia community, which is bounding our countries, is yet another compelling argument proving that we should work together to strengthen trade and investment relations between Armenia and California.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Armenia is known for its rich cultural heritage, vibrant history, hospitality, and amazing landscapes. But this is not enough to make the image of our country complete.

Today, we are changing the way we manage our country and our economy. At the same time, we have to ensure that the Armenian economy is dynamic and responsive to the changes that are taking place around the world.

Last year, the Armenian people opted for change. We chose freedom and democracy over autocracy and demonstrated that nothing is stronger than a will, belief and action of the people. However, political change is only the first step. We shall translate the will and aspirations of our people into economic and social development. And now “Economic Revolution” is underway in our country.

Economic revolution can be based only on fair and just institutions, equal environment, and impartial treatment to all. It means that the government says NO to corruption, NO to monopolies to encourage creativity and talents of our people and make Armenian economy competitive both in the region and in the world.
I believe our reforms are long-term and strategic. And therefore, economic revolution would have a long -lasting effect on the country’s economic development and people’s lives.

Meanwhile, let me share some already recorded results with you: in 2018, we registered a 5.2% economic growth and maintained a moderate inflation rate. These are very positive results for a revolutionary year. We have had a 9% increase in export. Positive dynamics continues this year, with 6.5% growth in the first half of the year. Recently Moody’s has improved Armenia’s rating to “Ba3.”

These results are promising, however, there is much more that needs to be done.

In the rapidly changing world, the old quote is still topical: “We must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place.” And if we wish to go anywhere we must run twice as fast as that. Thus, we need to be faster, more effective and efficient and targeting ambitious goals. This is the cornerstone of our transformation strategy.

We shall clearly understand our advantages, our strength that would move Armenia to a new horizon. We believe that the driving force for this change is a talented, creative and hardworking Armenian. This is the most valuable asset of our country. We know, different eras had different forms of capital, which fueled growth and development. In agrarian societies it was land, during the industrial revolution it was electricity, in the years of the financial boom it was financial capital, but nowadays it is the human being.

If you ask me why you should invest in Armenia, my answer will be investing in Armenia a small country with global networks and gifted people is quite promising. We aim at introducing technological education, developing soft skills, and helping students to identify their aptitude, through investing in primary, vocational and higher education.

Armenia provides an excellent opportunity for investors in areas such as information technologies, tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and many other spheres.

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