Talk:Jobs In Armenia

CREATING JOBS IN ARMENIA =

WHAT CAN WE DO

We read a lot of facts, good and bad about Armenia, in e-mails, papers in Armenia and papers in diaspora, but what do we think about them.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

We have to think about Kherimyan Hayrig’s “Yergate Sherep” and I think we have to replace the “Yergat” with “Dollars”. You are going to think, how materialistic? If we have the money we can buy everything, including the “Yergate Sherep” Last year a lot of tourists went to Armenia to participate to national gatherings all over Armenia. The theme of one of them was “One Nation, one culture”

I think we have to add to this theme also the word ECONOMY

ONE NATION, ONE CULTURE AND ONE ECONOMY

We are a nation of ten million, three in Armenia and seven in Diaspora. Several billions are invested by Armenians in different countries (In Canada alone it’s $6 billion) yet Armenia’s national budjet is only about $500 million per year. Armenia is placed the 87th in the list of the rich countries. Canada is the 4th. Do we want progress? We have to jump 10 countries a year to be able to come close to Canada. A 10 year plan. How can we achieve this?

ONE NATION, ONE CULTURE AND ONE ECONOMY

A good start would be:

a) Increase tourism. In 2003 Armenia had 207,000 tourists. It’s expected 250,000 for the year 2004. Can we double this next year? Of course yes. If only 10% of diasporans will visit Armenia it would make 700,000 tourists. A huge boost to the economy.

B) Diversion of a 10% of the Diaspora’s investments from foreign countries to Armenia. That will amount to billions of dollars to the gross national product of Armenia. Wishful thinking? Yes, but achievable also.

How can we achieve the above?

DUAL CITIZENSHIP 

Unfortunately there were not any provisions for Dual Citizenship in the first Armenian constitution. Within the last 5 years it has been debated, promised but nothing concrete been done. Diasporan Armenians will feel more responsibilities and act more like “Armenian citizens” when they will have the Dual Citizenship. In Yerevan, the locals think that it’s an excellent idea but the public’s opinion is “this government will never pass such a legislature” Why?

A lot of unanswered questions. Military service: Why the dual citizen will not serve in the Armenian army? Taxes: Why diasporans will not pay taxes in Armenia? Elections: Will diasporans have the right to elect or be elected? Ect.

Military service: It’s a big debatable issue and I am sure it can be solved by the diasporan youth.

Taxes: I would recommend a $200.00 per year tax levied to diasporan dual citizens.

The right of elections in Armenia: I would recommend that any dual citizen that has residency status in Armenia (who resided in Armenia more than 6 month a year) after one year should have the right to elect or be elected. Now we are closer to ONE NATION, ONE CULTURE AND ONE ECONOMY

If 10% of diasporans will have dual citizenship we will have a cash flow of $140 million per year. What do we do with it? Create jobs: A committee elected from experienced businessmen, with equal members from Armenia and Diaspora will have to manage this $140 million per year cash flow to create new jobs. (Lending money to Armenian corporations, of which 50% of shareholders will have to be diasporans, up to one million dollars per corporation, without interest up to 5 years, no taxes for 5 years, provided that this corporation will not compete with local industries and export it’s products) This way Hundreds of thousand new jobs will be created every year. Unemployment will disappear, diasporans will return to the motherland…. ONE NATION, ONE CULTURE AND ONE ECONOMY. We will get closer to our dreams, FREE, INDEPENDENT AND UNITED ARMENIA We have achieved freedom, we have achieved independence now we can look forward in achieving the united, first, unity in Armenians (Diasporans and Armenians in Armenia) second with a very strong Armenia we can expect to have the “Wilsonian” Armenia.

I am looking for some volonteers in different cities to start such a program.

Movses Keoshkerian Yerevan/Ottawa October 2004 mosesk@namag.com