President Vahagn Khachaturyan took part in the Annual General Meeting of the NAS

President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan took part in the Annual General Meeting of the RA National Academy of Sciences.

Welcoming those present, the President said in particular: "Armenia as a state can’t develop without science and education. This is an axiom, which is now being implemented by the current Government and the authorities of our country. We have the human, the citizen of the Republic of Armenia, as the main force. We do not have material resources, so a human must be developed, educated and focused on serving his country and creating new value for it."

The President of Armenia cited several statistical data, presenting a comparative analysis of state budget expenditures for 2020-2024. Accordingly, in 2020 expenditures amounted to 1.9 trillion drams, 3.2 trillion is planned to be spent in 2024, 24% more is planned in terms of percentage. Among this, in 2020, the state expenditures in the field of science amounted to 13 billion drams, in 2024 it is planned to increase the amount to 36 billion. If in 2020 spending on science accounted for 0.7 percent of total budget expenditures, then in 2024 this figure will be 1.12 percent. Compared to 2023, expenses increased by 43 percent, and compared to 2020 - by 2.7 times. The total amount of expenditures on education in 2020 amounted to 144 billion drams, in 2024 it will amount to 288 billion drams. In the total budget expenditures, expenditures in the field of education in 2020 amounted to 7.6 percent, for the current year the indicator is 9 percent. Defense expenditures: in 2020 amounted to 308 billion drams, in 2024 - 557 billion drams.

"The Government of Armenia and representatives of the authorities consider their main goal and major task to maximize the promotion of science and education. As for discussions related solely to the status of the Academy, they should be stopped very quickly, since uncertainty, in turn, entails additional problems and additional conversations, other opinions that are not favorable for both the State and the National Academy. The work done at the National Academy of Sciences during the year shows that indeed this institution has a great desire for changes, the main purpose of which is to participate more practically in the changes taking place in today's economy," President Khachaturyan said.

According to the President, state funding is increasing, especially in terms of promoting scientific research.

"The amount allocated for scientific-research, experimental, and design work for the military-industrial complex is about 6 billion drams. Nothing like this has happened in the last 3-4 years, which is an additional opportunity to open up a large field for knowledge. But, unfortunately, the participation of our business in these works is very low. When we study foreign experience, we see that in developed countries it is business that makes the main contribution to research. The participation of the state is much less. The active participation of businesses is due to various incentive mechanisms, mainly economic ones. It's time to address this issue. We can definitely do the same, we just need to have the courage and involve business. At the same time, he needs to be interested, because business, with no benefit, will not do anything, which, in fact, is logical and acceptable," President Khachaturyan said.

According to the President of the Republic, if there is no business presence in the field of education, then this sphere will not have the pace of development and will not record the results that the state wants. "What is happening in terms of scientific discoveries cannot be satisfactory. We must be able to enter international markets, we must be able to really present our knowledge and scientific products on the international market. It is necessary to understand where to start this process. I think that from the educational system, therefore, the entire chain of high schools and institutes should be reviewed and new interesting mechanisms should be found so that a larger number of people strive to engage in science. It is necessary to create an environment in which the entire system will be aimed primarily at providing natural knowledge and training highly qualified specialists in this area. I am sure that we will be able to solve these problems, but now we are lagging behind in time and, unfortunately, lagging behind the global scientific changes," the President of the Republic of Armenia noted.

Touching upon the initiative to build an academic city, the President stressed that the choice of the right steps in this direction is possible precisely thanks to such discussions. "No one wants to destroy anything, especially the authorities. We have more desire to create something that we will do with joint efforts. If there really are constructive proposals for the creation of an academic city, we must go this way together. Excessive hype and voicing unfounded opinions will not benefit this process. If any university believes that it can survive on its own, it must prove this by its effective activities. In this case, the question of whether to unite or not will have a different nature of discussion. In all cases, we must be able to get out of a comfort zone in order to move on, therefore, we should not create apocalyptic moods," the President said in his speech, in particular.

Concluding his speech, the President said: "I wish you creative success and new achievements, because your new achievements are the successes of our state, the key to development."