The most important thing is to stay true to our principles. Vahagn Khachaturyan delivered a keynote speech during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos

President Vahagn Khachaturyan delivered a keynote speech at the panel discussion of “The cost of living in crisis” within the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Presenting Armenia’s experience, the President particularly said;

“Up to these days, Armenia often finds itself in crisis and tries to overcome it uniquely. We have close borders, which significantly affects the quality of our lives. I am talking about Turkey and Azerbaijan. We have the unsolved issue of Nagorno Karabakh, which causes constant conflicts with our neighbour Azerbaijan. Just a year and a half ago, the 44-day war provoked by Azerbaijan caused us heavy human and material losses, only the intervention of Russia stopped the war.

Now we are in a new crisis, but we are capable of overcoming it due to the democratic principles we adopted.

The most important thing is the relations between the government and the society, the extent to which the society trust the government, and how well the government understands the needs of the society. If there is a dialogue between them, there is a solution to the problem of poverty and the possible new crisis and it makes the country more stable and manageable.

The most important thing is to stay true to our principles. That’s what our experience shows.

From 2000 to 2018, our country had abandoned democratic values, corruption was demolishing our country. We were in dire straits. In 2018, the Velvet Revolution took place and a young government came to power, breathing new life into all the fields.

The business gained freedom, people gained freedom, they were able to do business freely, and no one could hinder them or demand money. The political forces got an equal opportunity to participate in elections. The economy grew immediately by 7.5 per cent the following year. The businessmen became sure that the government wasn’t planning to play a temporary game, it was acting according to the accepted law and rules, which implies paying taxes and fulfilling certain social obligations. This is an example that may interest everyone. The elimination of corruption became a very big incentive.

When all the money spent in the countries reaches the people who need it, poverty decreases, risks decrease, and everything becomes manageable. But if it reaches a group of people who simply use it to keep power, it causes great conflicts. Of course, some political motives can be turned a blind eye to, but I don't think that this is the right solution in such cases.

It is more correct to be honest, sincere, especially with the people you want to help, and become a participant in all those programs with them."