YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, who is in Switzerland on a working visit, met with heads of a number of leading Swiss companies during a working breakfast, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The meeting has been organized by the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services. Director General of the Chamber Vincent Subilia stated that Armenia has many chances to become a leading technological and innovative country. “It’s a great honor to host the President of Armenia at the Geneva Chamber of Commerce which provides consulting to the business community for already 115 years”, he said. “Last year I had an honor to visit your country and hear your wonderful speech at the TUMO during the economic forum held on the sidelines of the La Francophonie summit. It was unique to understand what Armenia can offer to the world”.

Vincent Subilia informed that he thoroughly examined the interview of the Armenian President published in the Financial Times and is confident that Armenia is really one of the startup countries of the 21st century. Subilia said the meeting with the Armenian President is a unique opportunity to listen to him and talk about the opportunities and cooperation prospects of the two countries. “You are a scientist and are now in the homeland of the internet. You are also a talented diplomat, and Geneva is the center of world governance. I believe that you can call Geneva your home for these two factors”, the Director General said.

In his turn the Armenian President highlighted the mission of peoples, nations and countries in the world and stated in particular: “The nation or a person who has no mission is lost. Mission unites people in order to achieve success. “For instance, I have a mission to make Matenadaran, the institute of ancient manuscripts, an international center for the world’s ancient cultures and manuscripts, in joint collaboration with UNESCO. The next mission is to rebirth Armenia’s second city, Gyumri which greatly suffered due to the 1988 earthquake. I want to return it to life, boost tourism because Gyumri is a wonderful city, has a unique culture”.

The President also talked about two more initiatives. One of them aims at making Armenia a hub for new technologies and science. “Future everywhere, both in agriculture, universe, food industry or making clocks, is going to be based on the new technologies”, the Armenian President said. “I wish, dream and have a mission to make Armenia a hub for artificial intelligence and new technologies. Here we can be successful. The next plan is called ATOM. This is going to be based on a scientific park which will be attended by children. And the second part will be the Museum of Tomorrow”.

President Sarkissian informed that there are preliminary agreements with a number of companies, such as Dassault, Thales and etc.

As one more mission the President mentioned making Armenia a hub of food safety. “This means that we are not going to produce a lot of food, but we will be a hub where it can be collected in one place. Armenia is an EAEU member, logistic conditions are being created within the framework of China’s Belt and Road program”, Armen Sarkissian said.

The meeting participants held a Q&A session with the President, touching upon the cooperation prospects with Armenia.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan