Working visit of the President Armen Sarkissian to the Swiss Confederation

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in the Swiss Confederation on a working visit, met today in Geneva with His Holiness Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I. 

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President Armen Sarkissian, who is in Switzerland on a working visit, on October 6 met with the main partner of the Summit of Minds, co-founder and author of the «The Monthly Barometer» monthly analytical journal Thierry Malleret.

At the meeting discussed were issues related to the organizational tasks of the Armenian Summit of Minds -2020 which will take place in June 2020.

The Armenian Summit of Minds, which is becoming a traditional annual event, will take place on June 7, 2020 in Dilijan and Yerevan. The main discussions will revolve around the geopolitical realities of the 21st century, new technologies, impact of artificial intelligence, and other topics.

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President Armen Sarkissian, who is in the Swiss Confederation on a working visit, today at the UN headquarters in Geneva participated at the conference of the UNCTAD Panel of Eminent Persons.

Armen Sarkissian was elected the Chairman of the UNCTAD Panel of Eminent Persons.

The Panel provides counselling on the vision regarding the next ten years for trade and development in the world, on critical and urgent economic challenges, and offers ideas and solutions to overcome them.

Members of the Panel, who are heads of states and governments, prominent economists and experts, are invited personally by the Secretary-General of the UNCTAD. The sessions of the Panel are conveyed in a closed format, according to the Chatham House rules.

The core discussion titled The Main Challenges and Opportunities with the participation of President Armen Sarkissian, were chaired by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD Mukisa Kituyi. After the discussions Secretary-General said that the Panel of Eminent Persons is called to assist in understanding where the world is headed and what should the focus of the attention be, considering the existing challenges.

“The main purpose is to find out how the experience existing in the academic and political areas can advance the discussions on the topics which will emerge in the next ten years. How the UN can respond to these questions; how we can model our programs, bringing them in line with the current challenges, and how to set forth pioneering ideas to face that challenges,” he said.

“This year, we were able to bring here a number of prominent persons, including the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian to participate at the Panel of Eminent Persons.” The former Secretary-General of Francophonie Michael Jean, who is also a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons, said in particular, “It is very important for me to see Armenia as a member of the Panel because I have wonderful memories of Armenia which will always stay in my heart. I believe, your country is an important player in the IT area, for instance, the TUMO center which exports educational system to different countries of the world. The special attention, which Armenia pays to education, assisting the young people in using modern technologies, is a very innovative approach and a significant fact.”

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President Armen Sarkissian, who is Switzerland on a working visit, met today in Geneva at the headquarters of the World Economic Forum with the founder of the Forum, Professor Klaus Schwab.

The World Economic Forum is better known as the Davos annual forum which each year brings together world’s political and economic leaders, representatives of business community and international financial institutions and reputable experts to discuss and offer solutions to the global problems and challenges of the contemporary world. Welcoming the Armenian President’s visit to the headquarters of the Forum, Klaus Schwab noted in particular, “I have always been fascinated with your intellect and vision. I believe you are the one of those exceptional politicians who have a vision about the future, which you also proved through your years-long activities and publications.”

The President thanked for the welcome and said that he recalls with pleasure his work at the Forum which was also a good experience for him. He said that it was thanks to the vision of Professor Klaus Schwab that the World Economic Forum became a reality. “I believe the world would be different without the World Economic Forum. The Forum has paved many avenues for moving forward. In the contemporary world everything is changing very fast. Sometimes I find myself in that new world, quantum world. In this world we need quantum thinkers like you,” President Armen Sarkissian said and added that as the President of Armenia he anticipates working with the World Economic Forum in the coming years, too.

The interlocutors exchanged views on possible cooperation, particularly on the opportunities of implementing joint programs in which the World Economic Forum could have an input. Among the areas of great potential President Sarkissian highlighted high technologies, artificial intelligence, and mathematical modeling. It was noted that the Forum, in the framework of its programs, might become an interesting partner for one of the Presidential initiatives – ATOM (Advanced Tomorrow) aimed at the development of science and technologies in Armenia, which has a number of components. It is envisaged that this initiative will include also a technological town where major international organizations, research centers, and universities will be present. There also will be the Museum of Tomorrow.

The idea was assessed as an interesting one and it was noted that there are great opportunities for cooperation in this area.

Klaus Schwab said that he was interested also in Armen Sarkissian’s vision regarding the global developments in the world and would be happy to listen to his opinion regarding the quantum politics, directions for the advancement and trends in the contemporary world.