The Government of the Republic of Armenia

On March 13, in the framework of his official visit to Lebanon, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan met with representatives of the Armenian community of Lebanon at Armenia’s Embassy in Lebanon. In his speech, the Prime Minister stated as follows:

“Dear Compatriots,

I want to tell you in a few words what we have talked about during this visit, where we have arrived, and what is our vision of Armenia’s tomorrow.

First of all, we came to Lebanon open-hearted and with a very extensive agenda. We expressed gratitude and recorded that we boast a very friendly, long-lasting good relationship that has been at the highest level over the past 25 years - during the years of Armenia’s independence. At the same time, we stated that the economic component is far below the actual potential.

At all meetings, we highlighted the role played by our compatriots, our community, our sisters and brothers, the greatest, critical role that actually shapes today's Armenian-Lebanese relations. We even noted that that while being devoted and dignified citizens of Lebanon, our community, our compatriots do not break ties with their homeland Armenia and, in some sense, you are our ambassadors to Lebanon and Lebanon’s ambassadors to Armenia.

We presented programs that can attract the business world to Armenia. We partially told about the programs that we are implementing today. We have initiated reforms literally in all spheres of public life: public governance, taxation, customs, education, healthcare, information technology, agriculture, judiciary, bankruptcy, etc.

Thanks to our foreign policy, we have managed to create a very interesting platform in Armenia where we combined perhaps what might seem to be incompatible. I mean our membership of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union, our friendly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and many other countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, preferential trade regimes. It allows access to many more markets, having an enterprise, business in Armenia. We also provided information on the results we have had during the economic upheaval in 2017.

Last year, we had 7.5% economic growth. Let me note that this is the highest performance in the region - almost twice as high - the highest one in the Eurasian Union as compared with the CIS countries when the average global economic growth is estimated at 3-3.1 percent. Last year, exports grew 25.2%, industry - 12.6%. We boasted growth in imports, foreign trade turnover and so on. In macroeconomic terms, our performance is actually the best one in today’s situation, one of the best. Yet, it is not enough for us to cope just at once with all the problems facing our country.

Our government’s economic policy shows that we are on the right track. We are confident that in the next 3-4 years we will have a sustainable economic growth and the aforementioned reforms will be continued.

But the biggest expectation or our willingness to do is the following: The world is facing many exciting challenges.
Of all these challenges, I would single out the following: short-term management, elected office, regular reports before TV cameras and populism have led to a situation when manageability is a subject of a very short period, though we know that what is desirable over the short run may not be as good for a long period. The world is changing so fast that economics and management science do not keep up with it.

We, the Armenians, have a unique opportunity to achieve flight growth. Strong with the achievements and short-term economic victories of said 3-4 years, we must implement strategic reforms in order to secure a sustainable long-term growth in the country.

I am more than convinced that we have great potential in the face of you, our compatriots. I do not know of any Armenian figure or decision-maker who does not state this, and does it sincerely. But it should be noted here that we have not tapped that potential as well as we can. People in the Republic of Armenia, our young people need communicating with worthy people so that their worldview is passed on to them. In that regard, it is extremely important for the scholar to meet with the student, the cultural figure, the spiritual father, the engineer, the teacher, the businessman.

On the other hand, I am more than convinced that anyone who feels an Armenian inside cannot live without Armenia, no matter how economically independent he is, what social status he has in the host country? For anyone who feels to be an Armenian the inner peace and harmony are closely associated with what Armenia is like.

I would like to address you with the following proposal: rest assured that we will have a logical, fast-developing and fair country to which anyone can make a contribution.

Be sure to pay attention to Armenia, create a corner for you, a port, something that will give you confidence. We will be very glad to see you all in Armenia. I also want to convey my inner conviction and determination that step by step we will build the best country for all Armenians.”