PRESS RELEASE
Armenian International Policy Research Group
P.O. Box 28179
Washington, DC 20038-9998
USA
Phone: (202) 623-8605, (202) 458-2589
Fax: (202) 478-0934
E-mail: [email protected]
Yerevan Office
40 Baghramian Ave.
Yerevan, Armenia 375 019
Phone: (3741) 512-670
Fax: (3741) 512-679
Third Annual AIPRG International Conference on Armenia
Income Distribution and Social Safety Nets
January 15-16, 2005
The World Bank
For online registration, go to:
Conference Program
Day 1: Saturday, January 15
7:30 AM Registration and Coffee
8:30 AM Introduction and Welcoming Remarks
Introductory Remarks: AIPRG Co-Chairs
Welcoming Remarks: H.E. Arman Kirakossian, Ambassador of Armenia in the U.S.
Keynote Opening Address: Vahram Nercissiantz, Chief Economic Adviser to the
President of Armenia and AIPRG Advisory Board
Conference Thematic Address: Haroutone Armenian, President of American
University of Armenia and AIPRG Advisory Board
Session I – Growth and Development
Chair: Mohsin S. Khan, Director, Middle East and Central Asia
Department, IMF*
9:30 AM Julian Karaguesian, Ministry of Finance, Canada
Reversing Armenia’s De-Industrialization: the Role of Strong Governance and
Solid Institutions
Discussant: Saumya Mitra, Lead Economist, The World Bank
10:15 AM Bryan Roberts, BearingPoint, USA
Armenia’s Remittances: Economic Impact and Optimizing Strategy
Discussant: Ralph Chami, Deputy Division Chief, International Monetary Fund
11:00 AM Coffee Break
Session II – Macroeconomic Policies
Chair: Padreep Mitra, Chief Economist, Europe and Central Asia Region,
The World Bank *
11:30 AM Bagrat Tunyan, The World Bank Armenia Office
The Shadow Part of the Armenian Economy: Size, Causes, and Consequences
Discussant: Professor Jeffrey Miller, University of Delaware
12:15 PM Grigor Sargsyan, Central Bank of Armenia
Inflation and Output in Armenia: the Threshold Effect Revisited
Discussant: Levon Barseghyan, Assistant Professor, Cornell
University and AIPRG
1:00 PM Lunch (World Bank Executive Dinning Room)
Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Professor William Easterly, New York
University, Department of Economics*
Session III – Poverty and Income Distribution
Chair: Ad Melkert, Executive Director, The World Bank, and AIPRG
Advisory Board
2:30 PM Gohar Minasyan, IMF Armenia Office
Aghassi Lazarian, UNDP Armenia Office
Factors Behind Rural Poverty in Armenia
Discussant: Martin Ravallion, Research Manager, The World Bank*
3:15 PM Astghik Minasyan, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, Armenia
Hasmik Ghukasyan, USAID/PADCO Armenia Office
Targeting State Social Assistance to the Most Needy: the
Armenian Experience
Discussant: Professor Ara Khanjian, Ventura College and AIPRG
4:00 PM Coffee Break
4:30 PM Discussion Session IV – Reforms in Health and Social Services
Chair: Carolann Najarian, President, Armenian Health Alliance
Panelists: Sergey Khachatryan and Lusine Aydinyan, Health Project
Implement. Unit, Arm.
Beneficiary Assessment of the First Stage of Armenian Health Sector
Optimization
Marine Adamyan, World Vision Armenia Office
Integrated Approaches to Well-Being and Quality of Life
Improvement
Hilda Grigorian, Grigorian Business Consultants, USA
Trafficking of Women and Young Girls in Armenia: Reality or
Myth?
8:00 PM Reception at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Hosted by H.E. Ambassador Arman Kirakossian
Location: Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Day 2: Sunday, January 16
Session I – Governance and Civil Society
Chair: E.J. Dionne, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution*
9:00 AM Arman Khachaturyan and Mark Airaudo, Centre for European Policy
Studies, Belg.
The Political Economy of Transition in Armenia: Quo Vadis?
Discussant: Phil Uhlmann, Assistant Professor, Bentley College and
Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Tufts University
9:45 AM Anna Ohanyan, Simmons College and University of Massachusetts,
USA
Civilizing Civil Society: Framework for Tri-Sectoral Civil
Society Engagement
and Negotiation Culture in Armenia
Discussant: Professor William Ascher, Vice President and Dean of the
Faculty,
Claremont McKenna College and AIPRG Advisory Board
10:30 AM Coffee Break
Session II – Public and Private Services Provision
Chair: Michael Blackman, Deputy Director, Office of Economic
Restructuring and Energy,
US Agency for International Development, Mission to Armenia
11:00 AM Paul Holden and Vahe Sahakyan, The Enterprise Research
Institute, USA
Issues Related to Promoting Competitive Business Environment in
Armenia
Discussant: Professor Richard Beilock, University of Florida and
AIPRG
11:45 AM Audrey Selian, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, USA
The Use of IC Technologies in the Armenian Government
Discussant: Greg Aftandilian, Independent Consultant
12:30 PM Lunch (Lobby of the Main Complex, The World Bank)
Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Vahan Zanoyan, President and CEO,
PFC Energy Corporation
2:00 PM Discussion Session III – Trade and Geopolitics
Chair: Hratch Tchilingirian, Associate Director, Eurasia Program, Judge
Institute of
Management, University of Cambridge, UK
Panelists: Karine Torosyan, Department of Economics, Oregon State
University, USA
Armenia’s Trade Structure in Comparative Prospective
Asbed Kotchikian, Boston University, USA
Border Politics: the Political and Geopolitical Implications of
Opening of
Turkish-Armenian Border
Richard Giragosian, Abt Associates and AIPRG
Toward a New Concept of Armenian National Security
4:00 PM Discussion Session IV – Diaspora-Armenia Economic Link
Chair: Noubar Afeyan, Managing Partner and CEO, Flagship Ventures
and Senior Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Panelists: Berge Ayvazian, Armenian High Tech Council of America and AIPRG
Strategic Direction’s of the Diaspora in Armenia’s Economic
Development
Aaron Shirinian, U.S. Embassy in Armenia
On Donor Aid Coordination and Its Relevance for the Diaspora
Assistance
Kaia Miller, Aslan Global and Armenia2020
The Essential Element in Effective Diaspora-Homeland Partnerships: A
Discussion of Views from Armenia and Its Diaspora
* – invited.