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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Organizers of WCIT2024/DigiTech have said that they have achieved their main three goals.
“The first goal was to promote Armenia as a developed IT country across the world,” Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) President Alexander Yesayan told Armenpress, adding that various IT executives have spoken very positively about the event. “Many foreign reporters were also here, and soon we will see publications in the specialized media arena that would concretely and comprehensively cover the congress in Armenia.”
The second goal is to organize useful networking for the guests who have arrived to Armenia, from Rodrigo Messi [Lionel Messi’s brother] to venture capitalists who are here to get to know Armenian startups and the local ecosystem, Yesayan said.
“The third goal is to ensure contacts with business environment in order for successful companies to be able to access foreign markets. For example, we had guests from Qatar with whom we discussed engaging in cooperation in their country. There are Armenian companies who established contacts with their partners in Germany, discussing various cooperation topics. The third goal has been implemented as well, and I am sure that we will have significant results in the future for the huge work that we did,” he said.
Asked whether it’s possible to create a Silicone Valley in Armenia given the successful IT sector, Yesayan said he’s talked about this topic with specialists who moved from Armenia to the U.S. and are working in Silicone Valley.
“Many of them told me that they are now thinking about returning because today it doesn’t really matter where the specialist is working from around the world. What matters is the creation of a favorable environment and the necessary working conditions. The companies who are already successful can work from Armenia because many people say that the quality of life here in Armenia is good, starting from education for children up to security. If we succeed in improving the environment and do specific work in this direction, we will achieve bigger results. For example, we must encourage the creation of IT parks and deepen vocational training. Our country is a perfect place for IT specialists and companies in terms of working here,” Yesayan said, citing the numerous Russian and Ukrainian IT specialists who’ve successfully continued their career in Armenia after relocating to the country due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“We must increase the number of Russian-language schools, improve the environment, meaning, do what once Singapore did, where both business representatives and regular people feel good. Armenia can be of interest to Iran, which has a population of 80 million and where there is immense IT potential and wonderful specialists, however the country is under international sanctions which forces many people to continue working abroad. If we offer convenient conditions to them, they will prefer to work here and our economy will only benefit from this,” Yesayan said.