Armenia-Diaspora Relations

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Re: Armenia-Diaspora Relations

MONEY REMITTANCES TO ARMENIA IN NINE MONTHS REACH $1.2 BILLION

ARMENPRESS
Oct 11 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS: Money remittances from Armenians
working in Russia, USA and other countries to relatives in Armenia
in January -September of this year rose almost 30 percent from a year
ago to $1.2 billion.

These figures were unveiled today by Armenian Central Bank governor
Tigran Sarkisian, who spoke at the opening of an international
conference on retail banking services in Yerevan.

Sarkisian said the Central Bank forecast was a 10 percent growth. The
bulk of money transfers- 70 percent- are coming from Russia.

Sarkisian said handling money remittances have become a very lucrative
business in Armenia. Unlike Armenia, money remittances to Russia
make annually some $700 million while transfers from Russia reach
$3 billion, according to Garegin Tosunian, chairman of the Union of
Russian Banks.

According to Tigran Sarkisian, local commercial banks have earned
8.5 billion Drams this year from providing money transfer services,
by 2 billion drams more form a year ago. He said also no bank is
dominating in this sector and because of competition the banks have
to lower their commission charges.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg205810.html

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Re: Armenia-Diaspora Relations

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian International Policy Research Group
P.O. Box 28179
Washington, DC 20038-9998, USA
Phone: (202) 458-2589, (202) 487-5212
Fax: (202) 522-3124
Web: http://www.aiprg.net

Yerevan Office
50 Nalbandyan Str, Suite 16
Yerevan 0010, Armenia
Phone/Fax: (+374 10) 528 723


Looking Forward: Global Competitiveness of the Armenian Economy

AIPRG Annual Conference
May 17-18, 2008, Washington, DC

The Armenian International Policy Research Group (AIPRG) will hold its
Annual Conference on the economy of Armenia on May 17-18, 2008, at the
World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC.

After more than a decade of transition from planned to market-based
economy, Armenia undertook important reforms and experienced high
rates of economic growth in recent years. In order to sustain this
growth and ensure further economic development, the country will need
to design and implement second-generation reforms based on lessons
learned during this transition and aimed at: (i) solidifying the
achievements of the transition period; (ii) ensuring a fair and level
playing field for private sector development; (iii) choosing strategic
directions for the country's export-oriented branches of the economy;
and (iv) laying foundations for future development by strengthening
institutions and modernizing social sectors, especially public
education.

Submitted papers may broadly address the following topics:

-- Raising competitiveness of the Armenian private sector
-- Trends in productivity and the impact of government policies
-- Impact of exchange rate fluctuations on growth and exports
-- The role of education and the challenges of modernizing the education sector
-- Financial markets and institutions
-- Market structure and competition
-- Trade and developments in Telecom and Transportation
-- Role of the Diaspora
-- Role of science and technology in development
-- Challenges of public sector governance in the new era
-- Strategic sectors for the country's future: export-oriented
manufacturing, IT, services, among others

Prospective authors should email their abstracts (outlining the main
directions of intended research, no longer than 1-2 pages) to
<[email protected]> by December 15, 2007. The Selection
Committee will notify authors of accepted abstracts by December 28,
2007. The deadline for drafts is April 1 and for completed papers is
April 28, 2008.

Selected papers will be considered for publication in the Armenian
Journal of Public Policy (AJPP). A grant covering travel expenses and
a small honorarium is available to a subset of papers accepted for
publication. Authors from Armenia are encouraged to apply. The
official language of the conference is English. For more information
on AIPRG please visit http://www.aiprg.net. Any further questions
regarding the conference may be directed to
<[email protected]>.

http://www.aiprg.net/en/rcontent/7/

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Re: Armenia-Diaspora Relations

ARTSAKH - DIASPORA: WHAT IS THE GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL NOT REPEAT?
Anahit Danielyan

KarabakhOpen
18-12-2007 10:32:10

Recently the relation between Artsakh and the Diaspora has shifted
to a new level. It became obvious after the visit of NKR President
Bako Sahakyan to Russia, France and the United States.

The president told the details of the visit for preparations
of the all-Armenian telethon to the members of government and
reporters. Namely, the focus of the president allowed supposing that
the relations with the Diaspora are being shifted to a new level. The
Karabakh government used to refer to the Diaspora as a potential
source of finance, now the focus has changed.

During the meeting the president mentioned for several times that our
compatriots in the Diaspora are dissatisfied with the infrastructures
in Karabakh and lack of air transport.

More exactly, our compatriots complain that it is very hard to drive to
Stepanakert from Yerevan for 5-6 hours along the serpentine. Therefore,
they prefer not going to Karabakh. If we operate the airport, our
compatriots will arrive more often, Bako Sahakyan says.

The second key issue is information. The NKR president said it is high
time to set up an information center in NKR because "our compatriots
do not have sufficient information about Karabakh". He underlined
that he will make efforts to create such a center.

The solution of the abovementioned problems is absolutely positive. The
problem is who demands to solve them. The impression is that the
problems are solved for our compatriots rather than for the people
who live in Karabakh. As if in Karabakh nobody has ever brought up
the issues of airport and information.

In addition, the people are now considering one problem or another
who used to be in charge of the corresponding sphere and the solution
of these problems was part of their rights and duties. There are
two options. Either earlier that did not wish or did not consider
as necessary to raise these issues because did not realize they are
important or they merely imitated activity, waiting for instructions
from above.

All we can do is pretend that we have forgotten about all this, and
are reluctant to remember. But is there a guarantee that it will not
repeat again?

http://cpanel.host.am/~karabakh/src/index.php?lang=en&id=2&nid=7029

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Re: Armenia-Diaspora Relations

What will be with Armenia Foundation?
Naira Hayrumyan

KarabakhOpen
01-05-2008 10:36:04

Since 1992 the name of Armenia Foundation featured in news about
the construction of schools, roads, water pipelines in Karabakh. The
foundation built houses, schools, hospitals, laid out water pipes. The
construction of two major highways - Goris-Stepanakert and North-South
- were also related to Armenia Foundation. Perhaps it is even difficult
to count the value of all projects implemented by the foundation in
Karabakh over the past years.

Over the past ten years Armenia Foundation has held telethons in Los
Angeles raising money for the rebirth of Artsakh. Either times have
changed or the Diaspora is tired of helping Karabakh, or yet there
are other reasons but recently some things regarding the foundation
are not quite easy to understand.

On February 7 the president of Nagorno-Karabakh Bako Sahakyan
met with the executive director of Armenia Foundation Vahe
Aghabekyans. Agreement was reached to set up an office of the
foundation in Stepanakert. A lot of time has passed but the issue of
the office has not been brought up again. The manager of the programs
for Artsakh Michel Tancrez continues to work in Karabakh who apparently
not empowered to represent the foundation to NKR.

Besides, the annual meeting of the board of trustees which is
still headed by the ex-president Robert Kocharyan has not been held
yet. Apparently, inside the foundation they have not decided yet
where to head and what to do. Especially that serious problems have
occurred relating to the dropping rate of the dollar, and the value
of the money raised during the telethon in autumn has halved.

Judging by private talks, it is not a mere replacement of the
head of the board of trustees but a reform of the structure of the
foundation. Since consultations are not open, it is difficult to tell
what options are offered. However, it is self-evident that reforms
and a more distinct distribution of powers are necessary.

Armenia Foundation was set up in the very beginning of the independence
of Armenia in 1992 by a decision of the first president Levon
Ter-Petrosyan.

The process of establishment of the foundation was complicated due to
its unique structure: an effort was made to include both the government
and the society in its structure, in addition, not only the society of
Armenia but also the Armenian Diaspora. Here is the structure which
has not changed so far: the head of the foundation is the president
of Armenia, the board of trustees includes the prime minister and the
speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, the minister of foreign
affairs, the minister of finance, the president of the Central Bank,
the president and prime minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Catholicos
of all Armenians Garegin II, the head of the Great House of Cilicia
Aram I, the representatives of the protestant and catholic churches.

The leaders of the three traditional parties - the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun, the Ramkavar Party and the Henchak Party - are
permanent representatives to the foundation. The three major charity
organizations of the Diaspora - the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(Perdj Sedrakian), the Armenian Assembly of America (Hrair Hovnanian)
and the Armenian Relief Society (Maro Minassian) have representatives
to the board. Outstanding Diaspora Armenians are members of the board,
such as Charles Aznavour, Eduardo Eurnekian, Louise Simon Manougian,
Vardan Grigorian, Tigran Izmirlian, Albert Boyadjian, and others.

Armenia Foundation is not just a benevolent organization but a
structure which aims to help the government to solve problems which
it cannot solve alone. During the military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh
and the economic crisis in Armenia the Winter program was implemented,
and 21 million dollars was raised to solve the problem of energy. In
all these years the Foundation has provided assistance for the
reconstruction of the area of the earthquake, it has built a
residential area in Gyumri and in Spitak, as well as schools.

One of the main goals of the Foundation is assistance in the
development of the economy of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2005 the program
of reconstruction of Martuni was assessed 17 million dollars, during
the telethon in 2005 7 million dollars of donations were pledged and
5 million was raised. The program was curtailed. The telethon of 2005
raised 13.7 million dollars for the region of Hadrut, while the value
of the program was 7 million dollars.

As part of the program of reconstruction of Hadrut, Armenia Foundation
started to lay out water pipelines for the villages of Mets Tagher,
Drakhtik and Azokh, as well as the regional center Hadrut. It is
also foreseen to lay out 18 km of gas pipes between the village of
Togh and Hadrut, repair the regional hospital, build schools, repair
roads and irrigation pipelines.

During the telethon 2007 a record 15 million dollar sum was
raised which should be spent on the reconstruction of the region
of Martakert. The program included drinking and irrigation water
pipelines, health and education. However, no tenders have been
announced yet. Moreover, the fund was said to suspend the programs
of the hospital of Martakert and the water pipelines in the region
of Hadrut.

"No matter what complex programs Armenia Foundation will implement,
it will always work in Artsakh, increase investments, which matches
the stance of the board of trustees of the foundation," runs the
message of the department of public relations of the Foundation.

http://www.karabakh-open.com/src/index.php?lang=en&id=3&nid=9121

.....

Are the programs of Armenia Foundation failing?

KarabakhOpen
28-04-2008 15:05:57

On Saturday the NKR government and Karabakh Telecom signed a
memorandum, and the company committed to donate 500 million drams
for the health sector of NKR, which will be spent on building the
regional hospital of Martakert.

Meanwhile, the hospital of Martakert was part of the Rebirth of Artsakh
program of Armenia Foundation. Prime Minister Ara Harutiunyan said
after signing the memorandum: "A new building will be built which
had to be built by Armenia Foundation but unfortunately the program
failed because of the lack of funds." He said construction will start
thanks to Karabakh Telecom and will be completed in 2009.

The reporters reminded that by the end of the past year the
representative of the foundation stated in Martakert that the sum
foreseen for the hospital is available. The prime minister said the
sum is not there, and it is impossible to continue the construction
on the funds of the Foundation.

"I received a letter that the funding of not only the program of the
hospital of Martakert but also the program of water supply of the
villages of Mets Tagher, Drakhtik, Azokh was suspended, and we must
seek for funding for those programs," said the prime minister of NKR.

In answer to the question of Karabakh-Open.com whether it means
that the foundation failed and the programs will not continue in
Karabakh, he said: "I am not aware of the financial state of the
foundation but the foundation has explanation for the two programs,
the depreciation of the dollar. With the current inflation it is
impossible to implement them."

http://www.karabakh-open.com/src/index.php?lang=en&id=3&nid=9057