YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian participated in the opening ceremony of the 12th annual economic forum in the capital of Kazakhstan Nur-Sultan on May 16, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

This year the forum is being held under the name “Inspiring Growth: People, Cities, Economies”.

The forum is attended by current and former leaders of states, governments, international organizations, business leaders, economists who are discussing the global economic trends and structural changes.

The Armenian President was among the keynote speakers of the forum.

In his remarks President Sarkissian thanked the Kazakh President for inviting to take part in the forum and talked about the importance of having a vision. “Everything starts from the vision, the dream. I remember very well the early 90s when I visited here for the first time: it was a small city in the center of Kazakhstan. It reminded more a beautiful area, than a city. But there was a dream, a vision which was created and implemented by President Nazarbayev. Just few decades have passed. Look what happened to that dream and the vision. Now we are in a wonderful city – Nur-Sultan, which in some sense is the heart of Europe. Everything, really, starts from the vision”, he said.

According to the Armenian President, one of the visions relates to in which world we want to live in the coming 20-30 years. “Whether we want to live in a world that is divided, where there are more Berlin walls, or in a world that is really global? We are already a globally integrated world from where there is no path back. And this started not 20 years, but 100 years ago when the first Silk Roads have been constructed.

What is our vision for the next 20-30 years? In order to think about that, we need to go back for 20-30 years and see where we were. Whether you had the small devices which today govern our whole life, starting from family photos up to the whole information and financial analysis? But what will happen 20-30 years later, when we will apply artificial intelligence which will completely change, for example, our healthcare. Where we will be, when the communication will be completely different, with a higher quality, when all industrial products will be connected with artificial intelligence and management of great information? Whether we will afraid of this? The answer is the following – no. Because, in fact, these are great advantages. They will not reduce the number of jobs in the world, quite the contrary, will drastically increase them. This is a new era. This is a world which we must welcome. Whether we are ready for that? I am not sure for 100%. Can we be ready for that? Yes, I am sure for 100%. We should start to be ready and focus on education, preparing our kids to the next stage of the real 21st century”, the President said.

According to him, information and high technological companies, which are concentrated on artificial intelligence, rather than those dealing with natural resources, are becoming a locomotive in the 21st century. “This change is based on two factors. The first one is the person. In other words, an innovative person will be on the origins of the change, who has the tools of the 4th industrial revolution. These tools enable each individual to be creative, even being at home. And this will drastically change our approach to the business, will change how we will bring our contribution to the economy. An individual can carry out a creative work even at home or in a café through startups.

Look how the current giant companies have been created – in the garage, café, thanks to the dreams and qualified innovations of individuals. In other words, the driving force in the 21st century is the innovative and creative work.

The second factor is the 4th industrial revolution, but here I will insist that there is another revolution as well. We are moving towards the revolutionary evolution. Changes will not take place in 30 years. The world will change every day, and we must be ready for that”, the Armenian President added.

Talking about the place of Armenia in the global world, he noted: “I am looking at the future of my country and people with positive developments and vision. Our small state, the Republic of Armenia, is the home of the global nation because there are as many Armenians in our country as in Russia, Los Angeles is the largest Armenian-populated city after Yerevan, millions of Armenians live in France, they are spread from Singapore to Argentina. Therefore, we have a small state, but we are a global nation. We are part of the 21st century, integrated globally. And I encourage all to do the same, be globally integrated, creative and resilient towards changes. As this world is going to change every day, we should be ready for that. Everything starts from the young generation and education. Everything starts from the vision”.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan