On his way to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan met with community leaders from Syunik Marz in Goris.
The Prime Minister noted that the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the existing problems and the development prospects of the Marz. “We all need to understand a simple truth: we and only we are the ones to build our country, our home, our theater and our village. We need not wait for somebody to come and improve the situation. We must speak openly and sincerely: in addition to the problems, we should suggest solutions and specify which way responsibility will be shared among stakeholders, considering the resources and the expectations from the government,” Karen Karapetyan.
Syunik governor Vahe Hakobyan presented the planned activities, noting that proportionate development will be the main focus. The Syunik Marz development strategy was said to have been drafted already which seeks to provide higher quality of life. To this end, an investment fund for Syunik Marz development is going to be set up with the objective of promoting jobs and implementing investment projects in various sectors.
Emergency response centers will soon be set up in five cities, which will provide several new jobs. Work is underway to launch two factories for recycling rubber materials and manufacturing rubber pipes in Kapan, which may generate dozens of additional jobs.
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The “I was born in Syunik” program has kicked off to help successful former residents of Syunik Marz implement various projects in their native region.
Active negotiations are being held with Iranian side to export processed meat and wool. It was also noted that public and youth councils will be established under the regional administration to enable the public at large to present their concerns and suggestions.
Reference was made to the problems faced by Syunik Marz in education, agriculture, healthcare and other areas. Highlighting the importance of education, Prime Minister Karapetyan stressed that education is a priority for the State and the country to come should be a country of educated people.
Emphasizing the importance of diagnosing the problems before troubleshooting them, the Head of Government stated in part, “We need to keep to the point in addressing a problem. Firstly it has to be identified, after which we should decide how to reduce costs, whether it can be addressed at the expense of additional assets and what are the responsibilities of the community, regional government and the State budget. Should we talk in this context, we will move forward step by step. When a problem is uncertain, either the ways of dealing with it are uncertain.”
Speaking on the development of agriculture, the Premier said the State should support successful farmers with potential, so that others would try to keep pace with them. “Jobs are our first target: we must help the working man,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
Karen Karapetyan noted that a working scheme is being developed through this meeting held with the community heads. According to the Prime Minister, it is necessary to evaluate the potential of different initiatives, programs as the State will primarily seek to implement them taking into account their effectiveness.
“If you do not know what city, what community you want to have, you will be doomed to failure. Rest assured that not only do we have a chance, but we are bound by duty to build a good country, though each of us must participate, each of us must take a share and assume a civic stance,” the Prime Minister stressed.
The meeting also discussed a number of issues related to road construction, gas, water supply and infrastructure development.