Wednesday, 29 April 2009
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received honorary president of the World Union of Armenian Jewelers Gagik Abrahamyan, Union President Vardkes Knajyan (Switzerland), chairman of the Armenia Union of Jewelers and Diamond Processors Emil Grigoryan and owners of leading domestic companies Pierre Arakelyan (Canada), Nazareth Sapunjyan (Lebanon), Gagik Gevorkyan (Russian Federation), Hacob Minasyan (USA) and Shahe Arslanyan (Belgium).
The meeting agenda featured discussion of the current status and development prospects for the jewelry and diamond processing sectors in Armenia.
Noting the importance of making joint Armenia-Diaspora efforts toward developing and implementing a sector development strategy in Armenia, the Prime Minister welcomed the establishment and furtherance of effective dialogue between jewelers’ unions at home and abroad, especially amid the global financial and economic crisis. Tigran Sargsyan said to be pleased that there is a general understanding, with interesting development-oriented initiatives and proposals formulated by stakeholders. He singled out the techno-park project of Gyumri, the creation of free trade zones in the Republic, as well as the ongoing talks with the RF government and Alrosa and Crystal companies on developing cooperation in this sphere.
The guests briefed the Prime Minister on the programs for a couple of years ahead and presented their vision of future interaction. Understanding that the global crisis calls for joint endeavors, they stressed the need for sharing know-how in modern technologies, sales markets and went on to emphasize the importance of international expositions held in Armenia and joint participation in similar events held abroad They proposed launching a special fund in Armenia to train qualified jewelry, diamond- and watch-processing personnel so as the world might get acquainted with Armenia’s 3-thousand-year-long jewelry background. The guests expressed conviction that if effective, these programs will help turn Armenia into an international jewelry center with several hundreds of new jobs available.
Tigran Sargsyan assured that all the proposals will be examined carefully. The potential of the Gyumri techno-park will be used and further discussions will be held, if necessary. The Prime Minister expressed his government’s readiness to support any constructive initiative, project or program aimed at the development of this sector in Armenia.
