During the conference for the “Armenia 2020” project, project
coordination member and executive director of the “Flagship Ventures”
company Nubar Afeyan presented four different scenarios for development
in Armenia. According to Afeyan, by using at least one of those
scenarios, Armenia will be on the right track towards making progress.
168 Hours: “Generally, economic competition in Armenia is
based on a political level. The organization, or business, that does
not include an authority figure as a shareholder stays out of
competition. Will your proposed project put an end to this?”
Nubar Afeyan: “We will most definitely find a solution to that
problem, but unfortunately, that is going to take a long time to
accomplish. Our project does not solve those kinds of problems, but
rather, it points out the different branches and potential needed for
the country to develop. I can not come up with an exact solution to
that problem, but we can at least provide transparent competition in
some fields of economy so that we can set an example for the rest. I
believe that that problem will remain unsolved for the next five to ten
years.”
168 hours: “The majority of large businesses in Armenia today
are privatized. Armenians have formed, shall we say, an oligarchy which
has mixed up with the authorities.”
Nubar Afeyan: “I don’t think that you can solve those kinds of
problems without getting a head start. Let’s take for example tourism.
A couple of companies need to put their heads together in order to
develop that field of economy. It can not be solved by the law,
teaching somebody a lesson or by dictating someone to do something.
Certain steps must be taken, after which economy as a whole will
flourish. The situation that we are in now may slow down the process,
but I don’t think that we need to give up. We can make the project a
reality slowly yet surely, even in these conditions.”
“168 hours”: “Many people think that change of power in Armenia can solve these problems and break the corruption chain.”
Nubar Afeyan: “There is no evidence which will help us form a
basis for that. We have no guarantee that it will be better once new
authority figures get elected. In general, people who put up their
candidacy try to say things by adding a few changes to the wording,
however, there are new candidates who just say the same thing, make the
same promises. I don’t believe that elections can solve anything. What
I am interested in seeing is the nation speak out as one, and I must
say that there are people who are ready to speak about changes. That is
much more acceptable than to believe that people hope for change by
electing new authorities.”
168 hours: “There are many investors who hold back from
making large investments in Armenia due to the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict, which remains unsolved.”
Nubar Afeyan: “I think that the Nagorno Karabagh conflict will
affect Armenian economy in some way. Our project is aimed more towards
development and if we can collaborate with the Armenian government and
solve the country’s problems, then I can say that we will have
succeeded. If the Karabagh conflict is solved, it will be better for
us. However, it is illogical to say that there can not be any
investments made in Armenia because of the Karabagh conflict.”