President Armen Sarkissian's working visit to the Portuguese Republic

On April 7-9, President Armen Sarkissian will conduct a working visit to Portugal.
President Sarkissian will be a speaker at the annual meeting of the Horasis analytical center which is the largest annual event of the center.

Horasis is an independent international think-tank which provides a cooperation and knowledge exchange platform particularly to developed countries and developing markets. The analytical center is working with governments and international companies. Strategic solutions for problems and challenges, which our world and large companies are facing today, are offered during annual meetings organized by the center.

As a speaker, the President of Armenia will make a presentation in the framework of Shaping the Future panel.

President Sarkssian will also meet with the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister António Costa. Armen Sarkissian will also meet with the represenatives of the Armenian community of Portugal.

In the framework of his visit to Portugal, President Sarkissian will visit the Galust Gyulbenkian Foundation. In was established in 1956 in accordance with the will of the entrepreneur and benefactor Galust Gyulbenkian. The Foundation is carrying out various programs aimed at the development of science, education, and arts and each year provides grants and stipends to different institutions, organizations, and individuals to work in the mentioned areas

***

Hinduja Group is interested in cooperation with Armenia in the areas of science and technologiesPresident Armen Sarkissian, who is in Portugal on a working visit, met with the Chairman of the Hinduja Group in Europe Prakash Hinduja.

President Sarkissian and the entrepreneur exchanged views on the opportunities for the economic cooperation between Armenia and India and efficient use of the existing potential.

Prakash Hinduja said that the Hinduja Group is interested in cooperation in the areas of science and technologies and implementation of various joint programs. The President of Armenia invited Mr. Prakash Hinduja to participate at the Armenian Summit of Minds which will be held in Armenia in June.

The Hinduja Group is a large company founded by the Hinduja brothers. The Company is working in the areas of information technologies, healthcare, banking, and real estate. The number of employees of the Company exceeds 150 thousand. The Hinduja family is among the richest in the world with the net wealth close to 18 billiion USD.

***

President Sarkissian, who is in Portugal to participate at the annual meeting of the Horasis analytical center, met with the founder and Chairman of the Horasis international center Frank-Jürgen Richter.

Speaking about the possible avenues of cooperation, the interlocutors underscored the intention of organizing one of the future programs of the center in Armenia. It was noted that the center would consider holding the Horasis China 2020 meeting in Armenia.

Horasis is an independent analytical center which organizes meetings to offer strategic solutions for the challenges which the world and corporations are facing today. Among the participants of the Horasis meetings are renowned individuals, including state and government leaders, businessmen, and public figures.

***

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in Portugal on a working visit, participated at the annual global meeting of Horasis analytical center which is the largest annual event of the center.

President Armen Sarkissian made a statement as a speaker in the framework of the Shaping the Future panel.

The participants of the meeting spoke about the current challenges and avenues to address them. President Armen Sarkissian noted that any country would approach the existing problems in a different way. ''In Armenia's case, the formula is very simple.
The small is beautiful, and the small might be very successful considering what is going on in the contemporary world.''

The President of Armenia spoke of the fourth industrial revolution and noted that we are dealing with a permanent revolution and a lengthy process of evolutional development. “A huge number of scientific innovations and technological achievements along with a great number of people involved in startups and innovative actions testify to the fact that these processes will be very dramatic and dynamic. Soon, we will be witnessing the rise of the quantum modeling, new technologies, and management of vast information volumes and certainly, artificial intelligence will be on the top of all this, and I believe, it will be applicable everywhere,” President Sarkissian said.

The President is confident that there is no need to be afraid of artificial intelligence. “It’s the same old story: 30 or 40 years ago, people were afraid of information technologies, were afraid that computers would take their jobs. No, artificial intelligence will create new jobs. It is the quality and type of people’s work that will change. We are heading towards a more innovative world,” he underscored. Armen Sarkissian noted that the revolution is happening not only in the economy and technologies but also in the human behavior.

“This is a totally new world which I call the quantum world.” Among important topics of discussions were the climate change and damage caused to nature by the human activities. “We need to talk not of climate change but of the damage which we cause to nature. The reality is that the world is taking many steps to address the problem. The road to move ahead is green technologies, renewable energy – hydroenergy, wind, and solar energy. However, even the best case scenario will require decades to switch from our past, which has been totally black because of burning coal, to a green future,” President Sarkissian said. He noted that the right technologies are needed to solve this problem, as well as political will, investments and collective responsibility. “To have a green world, we need to seriously look into the reality we have, we need to exercise great international effort, the entire world together,” he noted.

In conclusion, President Sarkissian spoke about technological achievements and their role and significance in our life. He expressed confidence that they would change dramatically our social and political behavior. “Many individuals will be having influence in politics just using their electronic devices, through the posts in Twitter and Facebook. This is a new way of doing politics. We are facing a totally new world in which voices of individuals will be audible and will have a serious impact on the decision making,” the President of Armenia said.

***

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in Portugal on a working visit, met with the Prime Minister António Costa.

Speaking about the historically warm relations of the two countries and peoples and rich cultural heritage, President Sarkissian said that every Armenian proudly remembers the name of Galust Gyulbenkian - one of the glorious sons of the Armenian nation.

In his turn, the Prime Minister of Portugal underscored Galust Gyulbenkian’s work and legacy, charity and the role of his foundation in the scientific and cultural life of Portugal. The President of Armenia and Prime Minister of Portugal exchanged views on the possible areas of cooperation. Armen Sarkissian underlined that the two countries have great potential for cooperation in the areas of science and education, scientific exchanges and implementation of joint research programs.

Noting that he was aware of Portugal’s program to build a space station for launching satellites, President Sarkissian said that Armenia is ready to share its experience, scientific potential, and expertise in this area which is well-known since Soviet times.
The parties concurred that Armenia and Portugal possess great potential for cooperation in the areas of information technologies, natural sciences, and artificial intelligence.

President Sarkissian added that tourism might become one of the most promising areas of the Armenian-Portuguese cooperation. “Armenia and Portugal are wonderful countries and need to explore each other,” the President of Armenia said.

The interlocutors spoke also about the opportunities to establish a direct air link between the two countries and agreed to look into that issue.

***

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in Portugal on a working visit, on April 8 visited the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.

The President of Armenia toured the halls of the museum, which contain the most significant art works and collections of Portugal, including paintings, sculptures, gold and silver jewelry, furniture, and decorative art pieces.

Armen Sarkissian observed the cultural heritage on display and art works which were declared to be Portugal’s “national treasure.”

The National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon was founded in 1884 and possesses over 40 thousand exhibits ranging from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century; they are important not only for Portugal but also from the viewpoint of the preservation of the world art heritage.

***

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in Portugal on a working visit,  visited the Galust Gyulbenkian Foundation.

Noting that the last time he visited this establishment 15 years ago, President Sarkissian said, “It is always very pleasing and gratifying to come back here. Distinction and charity work of Galust Gyulbenkian translated into an instructive example and experience.”

The President of the Foundation Mrs. Isabel Mota presented the large-scale humanitarian and charity activities of the Foundation, particularly programs implemented in Armenia and Spyurk.

President Armen Sarkissian stressed the importance of the Armenia-oriented programs of the Foundation and its great contribution to the preservation of the Armenian identity and development of the Armenian studies. The President of Armenia spoke about research programs implemented by the Foundation and noted in particular that the structure has been supporting Matenadaran since Soviet times.

“I believe it would be a good idea if the Foundation views Matenadaran as an international project. Matenadaran has a rich collection and through its ample scientific and expert experience might become a regional and international center for the preservation, restoration, evaluation of ancient manuscripts and retraining of specialists,” Armen Sarkissian said.

He offered to consider this program and take joint steps to call it to life. He also informed that he has had discussions on this topic with the Secretary General of UNESCO. Armen Sarkissian offered the leadership of the Foundation to expand programs implemented in Armenia, increasing also the Foundation’s continuous assistance to students, scientists, and researchers. The interlocutors exchanged also views on appealing jointly to the Horizon 2020 research program. Considering the fact that this year celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Galust Gyulbenkain, President Armen Sarkissian presented to the President of the Foundation a stamp collection issued on this occasion.

President Sarkissian observed the temporary exhibition on display at the Foundation dedicated to the great Armenian, businessman and benefactor.

Armen Sarkissian visited also Galust Gyulbenkian museum and toured the exhibition halls. Galust Gyulbenkian was a great art admirer, and presented in this museum are his collections of paintings, sculptures, coins, books, and pieces of decorative arts.

***

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in Portugal on a working visit, met with the representatives of the Armenian community of Portugal.

The President noted that even though the community is small, small is always relative. “You are a small community but Galust Gyulbenkian was just one yet with a very strong national identity. It would suffice to read or follow his life story to see once again how strong and powerful was his Armenian identity. Being a creative entrepreneur on the world scale, he had started huge processes from nothing, created companies. Gyulbenkian was a truly creative man,” President Sarkissian said.

He underscored that along with being an outstanding businessman, Gyulbenkian was also a master of inter-personal relations. “It is impossible to achieve great results out of nothing, without being an expert of human relations, one who understands different cultures very well, a person who interconnected the whole world – from Venezuela to Australia, from Europe to the Arab world. In the person of Gyulbenkian, we have an Armenian who was a bearer of the world culture and the master of the so called art of negotiations. Should he not been a business person, he would probably be one of the best diplomats of the world,” President Armen Sarkissian noted.

He spoke of Gyulbenkian’s exquisite taste and his love for arts which manifested itself in his art huge collection.

“This list goes on and on because he was a genius. But first and foremost Galust Gyulbenkian was an Armenian, a great Armenian. He was Armenian not only by origin but also by his mentality, his daily life. His Armenian nature manifested itself in everything, starting from respect for the parents, respect for culture and up to his attitude towards our entire nation,”

President of Armenia said. He underscored that it was only natural that in the framework of his visit to Portugal, he would visit this place and meet with the Armenian community. Addressing the representatives of the Armenian community of Portugal, Armen Sarkissian said, “I am confident that each of you will one day return to Armenia. You will return and will bring with you your success in science, arts, culture, and business. You will return to Armenia with your small ones, you will bring them back to Fatherland because they are our future and our greatest asset.”

***

President Armen Sarkissian, who is Portugal on a working visit, met  with the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal Mr. Manuel Heitor.
At the meeting, the parties discussed opportunities of cooperation in the areas of science, education, modern technologies as well as the implementation of joint scientific research programs.

Armen Sarkissian noted that Armenia is interested in Portugal’s program of building a space station for launching satellites since Armenia has a great scientific potential in this area.

***

President Armen Sarkissian in the framework of his working visit to Portugal on April 9 met with the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa welcomed the visit of his Armenian counterpart to Portugal.

Underscoring the close historical and cultural ties of the two countries and peoples, the President of Portugal spoke with great reverence about the famous Armenian-Portuguese entrepreneur and benefactor Galust Gyulbenkian and about the activities of the Foundation named after him.

In his turn, President Sarkissian hailed humanitarian and cultural activities of the Galust Gyulbenkian Foundation and noted that the Foundation serves as a bridge in the Armenian-Portuguese relations. The Presidents of Armenia and Portugal exchanged views on the possible areas of cooperation. They concurred that the two countries could become successful partners in the areas of science, education, and modern technologies.

Referring to Portugal’s space station program for launching satellites, President Sarkissian said that Armenia has a great scientific potential in this area. The interlocutors mentioned also tourism as a perspective area of cooperation. Noting that many more tourists from Armenia might visit Portugal and many more tourists from Portugal might visit and discover Armenia, the parties stressed the importance of establishing an air link between the two countries and research on the existing opportunities.

President Armen Sarkissian invited the President of Portugal to conduct an official visit to Armenia.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in his turn invited his Armenian counterpart to conduct an official visit to Portugal.