Center of Strategic Initiatives of Armenian Government Opened in Yerevan

YEREVAN (News.am) – Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on Thursday attended the official opening ceremony of the Strategic Initiatives Center of the Armenian Government.

Welcoming those present, the Prime Minister noted that the idea of establishing the Center was one of the key targets included in the Government program. Through its activity, the Center should guide the long-term strategy of the country’s economic development.

According to Karapetyan, the Center is formed based on the principle of public-private sector cooperation and will serve as a platform, where it will be possible to discuss reforms and strategies with the participation of the private sector.

The Prime Minister also stressed that the Center will fix the economic development programs and form the country’s development gradient. “Through the state-private sector cooperation we expect to understand what we must do in order to have economic growth, involvement of investors, long-term development and effective use of our potential. There are more representatives in the Board of Trustees than in the private sector. And we expect and will be very happy if the best specialists of the Diaspora and foreign countries, as well as people who are not indifferent and would like to take part in the activities of the center get involved in this platform,” he noted.

Apart from this, Karapetyan noted that the team formed in the Center is professional. “My advisor Alexander Khachaturyan will be the head of this center. I pin great hopes on this team. We are open to constructive cooperation,” PM Karapetyan noted, wishing good luck and ambitious programs to the Center.

For his part, Executive Director of the Strategic Initiatives Center, Alexander Khachaturov, who is also the Prime Minister’s advisor, noted that a great task has been set before the Center and it will do its best to properly fulfill the functions delegated to it. “There are challenges, whose solution requires combining creativeness and responsibility, whereas the solution of certain challenges does not require long-term and great work. One should only be coordinated, organized and go forward. There will be issues which will require more research and preparation. I am sure that the team of the center and our partners, many of whom are here today, will together be able to achieve the positive results of our work.

He also informed that the Center is funded by the state budget, international institutions, donor funds and donations of the private sector. In fact, the first private donation was made by PM Karen Karapetyan.

The objective of the Strategic Initiatives Center is to promote the implementation of the pivotal reforms in Armenia and the growth in the export volume, as well as involvement of long-term foreign investments. The Center will focus on the spheres of public administration, information and high technology, tourism, agriculture and processing, education, tax and customs administration, as well as other areas, if needed.

The activity of the Center will be managed by the Board of Trustees, which will be composed of the representatives of both state and private sector.