Quantcast
Channel: American Times » economy
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 26

Armenia: On-the-Ground-Perspective

0
0

The American Times: On-the-Ground-Perspective in Armenia

The most noticeable element of Armenia’s economy is its robust Diaspora community. And by robust I mean there is 2-3 times the amount of Armenians abroad than those actually in Armenia. Now, it’s a twofold situation. At first glance it would appear that any country that depends on remittances, to the tune of over 16% of GDP, for economic stability is potentially relying too much on a variable. It appears at times that the country’s politicians lack self-awareness, or at least a profound care, for the lack of diverse development in their country. Additionally, much of the Diaspora’s remittances are via the 80% that live and work seasonally in Russia where the amount sent home, substantial when aggregated, but small when individually equated to a mere few hundred dollars a month in sustenance pay, men to their families back in the villages. Of course this situation is not unfamiliar to most Americans. Mexican workers do the exact same thing; in fact there is no situational difference except for the obvious where what Russia is to Armenia is what the US is to Mexico. The largest economic implication is also interesting though. According to MarketWatch, Mexico’s remittances, economically are ahead of FDI inflow and tourism dollars but still only account for > 3% of GDP, compared to Armenia’s 16%.

On the other hand, they are leveraging what they do have, Diaspora and brains to develop the only way they know how, on the backs of prominent and patriotic citizenry. In Armenia, it appears mostly that the people, not the government officials, are the ones getting stuff done. I applaud them.

For many of these reasons I left Armenia a bit confused, but happy. They are a warm and truly friendly people but appear to lack a keen sense of where they are headed and what the future holds. This was crisply depicted by several ministerial meetings I conducted where I ended up with over 2 hours of wandering recorded content that must be developed into a concise piece. A difficult task for certain but one I must face with an understanding. It was something that I could have controlled better as the interviewer, so I’ll take that responsibility. But who’s taking the responsibility for this country’s attractiveness to investors? Well, the American Times for one and enthusiastic American Diaspora for a second. In fact, The United States has the second largest population of Armenian Diaspora with over 1 million in Los Angeles alone (or Los Armenias as jokingly called by Armenians).

This also means they are responsible for Robert Kardashian producing offspring that is now ubiquitous in American Pop culture; the “how are you famous again?” evoking Kim Kardashian. But rest assured that lady does not depict the intellectual capacity of the broader Armenian community. Cher is Armenian by the way, who would have thought?

One of the most promising factors, which is becoming well known in the IT world, is the tremendous supply of quantitatively educated people in the country. They could, however, develop this well beyond courting and catering to the world’s largest IT firms; who essentially use Armenia as a breeding ground for educated and hardworking IT specialists and cherry pick them for their US or W. Europe offices (Synopsys excluded) facilitating massive brain-drain.

One remedy I found myself continually reiterating was combining their hardline quantitative studies with entrepreneurial and business studies. Currently their education system is strong really only in sciences and engineering, in lieu of diversification. The reason Mark Zukerberg, a nerdy and socially awkward programmer, was able to take Facebook from an idea to scale is because he was brought up in a society that oozes entrepreneurial spirit at every turn. That and the US offers effective and bountiful equity from diverse sources for promising entrepreneurs with great ideas.

And maybe this is where the true difference in opportunity lays: Build a structure that allows development of the ‘right-brain’ as well. Just like no man is an island; treatment of educational fields with polarity is bound to stifle even the greatest minds. Symbiosis is the word. Yes, the word that can so eloquently state the desired cause and effect of combining studies. Interestingly, as a business magazine, this offers opportunities to service firms in Armenia. Management, independent non-degree business education and many more are in high-demand. If this is a college party, Armenia has the beer but they need a driver. I think America can be that driver.

Bring the entrepreneur; they’ve got the brains and more than that, they’ve got tenacity, something you cannot teach.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 26

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images