YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan led a delegation to the United States June 28 to July 2 on a working visit. The delegation included numerous government officials.
The US visit began with a visit to the ServiceTitan HQ, where the Armenian officials met with founders of the company, as well as founders of Teamable and Airobotics which operate in the Silicon Valley.
Issues related to development of engineering education in Armenia, scientific-research, startup development and involving Armenia in multinational organizations were discussed, as well as the government’s priorities in these sectors, existing issues and the Diaspora’s participation in the development of the field. A preliminary agreement was reached with ServiceTitan to assist in opening a Yerevan branch of the company.
The Armenian delegation later met with representatives of over two dozens of business associations at the Armenian consulate in LA. Agreements on cooperation with Armenian companies were reached, and organizing a visit of the American Business Federation to Armenia was discussed.
The delegation also took part in a reception with major Armenian-American businessmen, where Deputy PM Avinyan presented the new formats of Armenia-Diaspora cooperation and the Armenian government’s priorities.
Agreements relating to carrying out projects of experience and knowledge exchange, opening machine building, waste processing, textile and renewable energy plants were reached. A group of businessmen are planning to visit Armenia soon to launch the projects.
The delegation also met with dozens of Armenian businessmen on June 30. Prospects of creating a national venture fund and national startup summit were presented, and many businessmen said they are willing to invest in the fund. The “Diaspora Bonds” idea was presented, as a mechanism for encouraging mass investments and contributing to sustainable development of the economy.
The Deputy PM held one-on-one meetings with many businessmen to discuss concrete investment programs in the sectors of healthcare, agriculture, IT, education, tourism, military industry, filmmaking and others. At the same time, Business Armenia inked a memorandum of understanding with Crystal Lake Holdings LLC, whereby the latter will invest 10,000,000 dollars for constructing a hotel complex in Lake Sevan.
The issue of opening an Armenian branch of the St. Jude Medical Inc, a healthcare giant engaged in production of cardio devices, was discussed with businessman Dro Darbinyan. Eco Panel Group Inc., in the person of Khachik Khachikyan (director), expressed willingness to invest 10,000,000 dollars for establishing a EPG eco-panel production in Armenia.
Deputy minister of Diaspora Babken Ter-Grigoryan held a meeting with California senator Anthony Portantino to discuss issues relating to strengthening relations between Armenia and California.
A group of US-based Armenian doctors suggested to financially assist families of servicemen in Armenia in providing medical insurance.
The establishment of a pharmaceutical plant was discussed with Armenian-American businessman Ashot Tadevosyan. Preliminary agreements were reached over investments in the banking system, organic food and honey production in Armenia.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti hosted the Armenian delegation on July 2. Possible cooperation paths in the sectors of IT, transportation, energy efficiency were discussed. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the city of Los Angeles and the Armenian government to cooperate in exchange of experience and designing a project to involve Armenian civil servants in LA’s administration institutions. The idea of organizing a visit of the LA Mayor to Armenia in December was discussed.
The Armenian delegation also visited Canada before the US visit.
As a result of the visits, investment agreements worth a total of 30,5 million dollars were reached.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan