ArmInfo.Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan at a meeting of the heads of the central apparatus and foreign diplomatic service bodies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mntsakanyan, in particular, focused the attention of diplomats on the problems of the city:
<It is very important to represent them correctly, which will allow attracting investments and stimulating the development of our city >. He recalled what the city was famous for before the 1988 earthquake, and emphasized the importance of efforts aimed at reviving the sports and cultural fame of Gyumri by the Permanent Mission, including the development of tourism. He also indicated as an important step in this direction the implementation of a logistics project in Gyumri - the creation of a free trade zone.
In turn, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan during his speech raised the issue of the proportional development of the country's regions. He pointed out that over the past 30 years, Yerevan has been a locomotive for the development of the republic, but at the same time "sucked out all the juices" from the regions, which today has become a serious problem. He pointed out the need for the governors of each of the regions of the republic to develop a development vector that should be submitted to the government by the end of the year and, based on this, possible ways to stimulate these goals will be considered. "We must move along the logic of creating large economic hubs - we are talking about cities of secondary importance. That is, we must give the opportunity to create 10-15 other centers in Armenia. The first steps in the direction of Gyumri have been taken," Papikyan said, pointing out that over the past year, he already sees progress in the development of infrastructures, increasing the tourist flow in Gyumri, etc. According to him, today it is important to present the right tasks to the ambassadors so that they, in turn, can move in the right direction, in terms of attracting investment ments.
Papikyan also touched on the North-South project, noting that it will play a vital role for Armenia and will act as an aorta that feeds cities of secondary importance. He also assured that the government has already made serious efforts in this direction. "Today, roads with a total length of about 330 km are being built, it is a question of roads of intercommunal, as well as republican and interstate significance. As part of a subvention project, the question is about the construction of roads of intercommunal importance from 180 to 200 km and about 23 billion drams are invested in it . At the same time, part of the funds is allocated from the budgets of the communities, "said Papikyan, adding that this has not happened before.
The Minister also emphasized that their goal today is to provide economically strong and sustainable communities. He also noted that they intend, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of community management and their development, to propose the holding of elections to local governments on proportional system. In conclusion, he stated that regional development is one of the fundamental pillars of the development of the country as a whole.
In turn, the Armenian Foreign Minister emphasized that this meeting was of great practical importance for him. According to him, such meetings will help to increase the practical implementation of steps aimed at developing the country, and will allow diplomats to imagine in practical terms where and through what projects they will be able to attract foreign investment for the benefit of the country's development.