Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening of the Summit of Minds in Dilijan. In his speech, the Prime Minister stated, in part:
“Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Dear Government Members,
State officials,
Dear Ambassadors, guests,
I welcome to the Armenian Summit of Ideas, which is traditionally hosted by the French town of Chamonix, but for the first time is being held in the Republic of Armenia. And I would like to extend a special vote of thanks to the President of the Republic of Armenia and all those mentioned by the Armenian President.
An ancient Indian parable asks what is more than the stars? The answer is ideas. Only one person’s ideas are taken into consideration in the answer. In general, the idea is the most important and turning point that shapes and creates our reality. The whole civilization, in fact, is based on a single factor, the human mind.
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Generally speaking, there were only two key factors affecting the planet: the cosmic factors and human mind. As we talk about the main topic of today’s debate on economic, investment and geopolitical trends worldwide and in the region, we can see that the greatest investment in the modern world is being done by human mind.
Today, idea is the main driving power behind the economy. And the point is that human mind is no longer limited to itself, and a global process of artificial thinking, artificial intelligence is thriving all over the world. This is the main trend in the 21st century, n the modern world. When we look at the structure of the global economy established over the past 20-30 years, we will see that the most dramatic change is just what said. The forces that stem from human thought, talent and intellect, have become economic locomotives in the modern world.
Now we live in an amazing era, when human mind has started to influence not only the planet Earth, but also has started to make changes on other planets and there is no doubt that this tendency will continue and will grow stronger with the development of artificial intelligence.
On the way from Yerevan we saw a lot of shops, restaurants, small and medium businesses – some of them successful, others unsuccessful, some not so good, some obviously good – and it is visible at first glance.
And when we think about the difference between successful and unsuccessful businesses, we have a striking idea that successful businesses are the ones in which human mind has a greater share. As economists say, all other things being equal, successful are those businesses in which ideas have the greatest share of investment.
And I think that this phenomenon, this tendency is the characteristic of today’s Armenia, because the 21st century is a century of thought; it ushers in the triumph of thought, and this is why we believe that the 21st century is the century of Armenia, the century of the citizen of Armenia, the century of the Armenian nation, because it ushers in the glorious revival of the Armenian nation.
We had no sea in the era of seas; we had no oil in the era of oil; we had no luck in the era of general success, we had no strength in the era of power. Now as the age of thought has come, there is no doubt that we have ideas, and our chief task is to develop our thinking; we must provide prerequisites for this, create opportunities for self-affirmation and self-reproduction of thought.
And this is why we say that our task is to make the Republic of Armenia a paradise for talented people, and we believe that in general, everyone is unique, everyone is talented and our task is to create an environment where talents can grow and develop, create artificial intelligence in support of human intelligence, spiritual and moral values, universal stability, peace and prosperity. Therefore, this Summit of Mind comes to the point in the Republic of Armenia.
In conclusion, I wish to once again thank all those who made this summit a reality. Thank you.”
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Held annually in Shamonix, France, for the first time this year, the Summit of Minds is hosted by Armenia. Armenia is the first country to host this event outside Shamonix.
The following prominent individuals are among the participants: former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (2005-2007), Presidential Adviser on Security Issues at Barack Obama’s administration James Jones, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvidkoy, Director of Investment and Entrepreneurship Department of the UN Conference on Trade and Development James Jean, Former Minister, Director of the Global Health Innovations Institute at the Imperial College of London, Lord Ara Darzi, Italian National Research Council Chairman Massimo Inguscio, Siemens CEO Jean-Marc Lischka, French THALES Company’s Vice President and Regional Director Paul Remy, Skolkovo Management School Board Chairman, former head of the presidential administration Alexander Voloshin, Crans Montana Forum President Pierre-Emmanuel Quirin, President and Director of the US National Defense University Foundation William Parker, and others.
More than 100 prominent Armenian and foreign political and military figures, scholars, analysts, businessmen and entrepreneurs are taking part in the event.
The summit features a series of thematic discussions on geopolitical developments in Eurasia and the Middle East, high technologies and management, artificial intelligence, digital economy, etc.
The Office to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia