YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian participated in the Doha Forum 2019 at the invitation of Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The Armenian President delivered remarks at the plenary session of the Forum.

This year the Forum is being held under the slogan “Reimagining Governance in a MultiPolar World”.     

In his speech the Armenian President touched upon the development trends of the global world, stating: “The reality is that the world is not only multipolar, but also is much more complex than we expected. In line with the complexities of the multipolar world there are also many issues which remain without response. Uncertainty is much more, than certainty, unpredicted events are taking place more than those which are possible to predict and take respective actions. Why all this is happening? Currently we are at the crossroad of time in some sense and are entering into a new era via the gate of that time”.

According to him, today, in line with the normal, real life there is another, a virtual life which creates absolutely new and different atmosphere which is more of a quantum nature: the old paradigms for the policy, security strategies will no longer work and we need to take into account the new realities of the world.

“Here I will touch upon one issue – the importance of “small”. All examples I mentioned related to the “power of small”, as one or two talented people create huge multifunctional companies. One or two politicians, who have a lot of energy and understand what is happening in the world, carry out a revolution by using the global, social network and becoming the next leader of their people. There are countries, which were not known previously, but, having a strong military power, created their own military tools which can be as effective as those of the big powers”, President Sarkissian said. “The power of that small starts with an individual, groups, motivated people who act as an entirety having one slogan, one target, one role in their life: this is also the case to the states. Of course, this world is multipolar. And not only the super powers, but also the small and successful countries have their own “strong voice”. I am happy that I am addressing this simple idea or message here in Doha. Qatar is a wonderful example of a small country which is not only beautiful, but also successful. There are many other countries in this gulf with similar success, such as Singapore which has a great impact on the global prospects. Rwanda as well is such a country the president of which is here. Yes, there are small countries, but they have a concrete vision, clearly understand their advantage and make it success. Some countries, such as Qatar, not only use their natural resources, but also serve them for building the future. That future will not be based on the natural resources, but on education, artificial intelligence, new data management and technologies”.

Coming to Armenia, the President said the country also has an advantage in this respect. “In this new world our country also has an advantage. That is not only our cultural heritage or our origin, but the fact that we highly value education, science and technologies. For instance, we managed to create an educational and scientific system which currently we are exporting to developed countries such as France, Germany, UK”, Armen Sarkissian said. “Armenia is a country that has a very clear advantage: we are a small state, but a global nation. Number of Armenians worldwide surpasses the number of Armenians living in Armenia four, five times. They are survivors, people who can change their life in accordance with the situation. They are good citizens of the countries they live in. This is very important for the President of Armenia to understand that Armenians in different countries demonstrate themselves in the same way as they do in their home country. This is strength, which, I hope, will position Armenia in the list of the small countries which are also successful. Yes, of course, the world is complex and multipolar. The world is so complex that we have to call it a quantum world. We need to understand how fast this new world is being connected to the new technologies. This is a new world where small can be both beautiful and powerful. I wish all small countries understand that they can be small, but powerful”.

Doha Forum is a global platform for dialogue, bringing together leaders in policy to build innovative and action driven networks. Established in 2000, the Doha Forum is a platform for global dialogue on critical challenges facing the world. The Doha Forum promotes the interchange of ideas, discourse, policy making, and action oriented recommendations.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan