Participants from Artsakh can`t participate in first forum of Civil  Assembly of The FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative due to blockade

ArmInfo.Tomorrow the first conference of The FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative in the format of the Civil Assembly will start its work in Yerevan.

As Artak Apitonyan, Executive Director of The FUTURE ARMENIAN  Development Fund, said at a press conference on March 9, the forum  will bring together 200 participants from Armenia, Artsakh and the  Diaspora. He also noted that 7 out of 10 participants from Artsakh  will not be able to come to Armenia and take part in the forum for  well-known reasons - due to the blockade. According to him, one of  the co- founders of the initiative - Ruben Vardanyan (also in Artsakh  - ed. note) will not be able to accept the form in the works.

"The forum will consider 3 out of 15 goals that have been earned  since the creation of the initiative in 2021," Apitonyan said, adding  that tomorrow the public discussion stage, which was preceded by a  huge expert work, will start.

In turn, businessman, philanthropist, founder of Solaron, co-founder  of the Armenian Foundation for Science and Technology (FAST),  co-founder of The FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative Artur Alaverdyan noted  that more than 100,000 people share their views and are ready to  contribute to the implementation of the 15 goals developed by the  initiative to achieve sustainable development of Armenia. He added  that the strategy was developed for a 20-year period.

"The three strategic positions of our strategy are as follows:  catalysing the implementation of the 15 goals, building  infrastructure and culture for free dialogue and decision-making,  engaging third parties to implement our projects. We hope that as a  result of our forum, a number of solutions will be found that will  ways of implementation," he said, urging partners to join their  initiative.

Meanwhile, founder of Mlinda and The Good Investors organizations,  co-founder of The FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative Richard Azarnia stated  that Armenia is in a serious crisis today. According to him, the  issue cannot be resolved by elections alone, nor can it be taken out  of the difficult situation in which the country finds itself.

According to him, representatives of the scientific and business  circles from Armenia and the Diaspora should join their efforts to  achieve this goal, and work side by side to solve the problems  existing in the country. As an illustrative example, he cited the  protests of the "yellow vests" in France, when the French leader  Emmanuel Macron said that elections alone cannot solve the problems  that have arisen, and systematic work is needed.

The FUTURE ARMENIAN is a public initiative created by private  individuals both in Armenia and around the world, which has been able  to attract over 100,000 contributors from 108 countries. In these  times of great uncertainty and pressing challenges, the initiative  aims to promote dialogue with the wider community on the 15 goals  developed by the initiative. As a result of the discussions, it is  planned to adopt a package of recommendations to achieve these goals  and solve the problems facing the Armenian people.