Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s working visit to France continues. On the second day of his visit, the head of the Armenian government met with members of the French Enterprise Movement (MEDEF). MEDEF brings together around 7200 French companies that are engaged in different spheres and helps them reach out to foreign markets.

Welcoming the Prime Minister of Armenia, Philippe Delore, the organization’s board chairman, expressed conviction that Nikol Pashinyan’s visit will be effective and will promote cooperation between Armenia and France. Philippe Delore noted that taking into consideration the existence of historically established friendly relations between the two countries, MEDEF is interested in the development and expansion of economic cooperation, deepening the ties between business circles of the two countries and is ready to work actively in that direction.

In turn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacote noted that Armenia is rich in human capital and attracted the attention of French organizations to that fact. According to him, in case of going to Armenia with investment programs, that potential will contribute to successful activities.

In his speech, the Prime Minister touched upon the developments in Armenia and the priorities of the government’s economic activity.

“Armenia went through a non-violent, velvet revolution which changed both politics and values in the country. I wish to emphasize that the revolution will miss the target after all, if we fail to bring about an economic revolution in Armenia. In this regard, we are actually facing the most important stage of our revolution as we need to achieve an economic breakthrough for the Republic of Armenia,” Nikol Pashinyan said, adding that there should be clear rules for economic activity.

“We have stated these rules many times, but I can assume that not all business people believe us due to long-standing economic tradition. After being elected Prime Minister, I hosted the business circles and made the following statement: business entities are henceforth free from any corruption obligation. We only have two conditions and two interests in our relations with those engaged in economic activity. Any activity should be carried out in full compliance with the law and we will help everyone create as many jobs as possible and, of course, pay taxes. We took note of those indications coming from the business community, which stated that the applicable Tax Code was too complicated, and we have now initiated a Tax Code reform,” the Prime Minister noted, adding that the government is facing another problem related to the former policies.

“We are well aware that many companies had to abide by the logic where corruption, sponsorship and monopoly prevailed. One of my first steps as Prime Minister was to visit Carrefour supermarket, as it was the only one operating within the bounds of the law. As a result, the big supermarket network proved on the verge of collapse, but now I can assume that the process has stopped, and the network is on the way of enlargement since now all supermarkets are functioning according to the law,” the Premier emphasized, adding that the Executive has to address a number of issues with foreign companies.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, however, the goal of the Executive is not to destroy anything, but to involve Armenia in the conditions of cooperation with these companies and make the cooperation more effective.

“When there are problems in some sphere, one should understand the mistakes made by the government or companies. In most cases, the interests of the Republic of Armenia and its people were not taken into account in the transactions between companies and the government. And I do not see the fault of these companies at all, because they have acted in their own interest, while the interests of the State and people should be protected by those officials negotiating on behalf of Armenia. Although, while studying a number of contracts, we understand that officials have acted in their personal, clan and, let me say, mafia interests. To clarify these situations, we need to understand the problems, find the right answers: otherwise we will have a caption without content. We want to be honest with our relationships with business entities. We understand that every company should defend its interests, but we want to emphasize that the chair of Armenia’s defender is no longer void. If everything continues this way, the prospects of these companies will be vague. There are pits that we have to get out together,” the Prime Minister pointed out.

Referring to his government’s economic vision, Nikol Pashinyan said that the Executive’s goal is to turn Armenia from agrarian country into a high-tech country. “And this is not just an ambition, because those who know Armenia know that there is great human resource for the economy of such a structure and its prerequisites have been created. This circumstance is highlighted in the recently published Global Innovation Report. Armenia is currently ranked low in terms of innovations and holds a very high place in terms of innovation capacity. The IT sector is dynamically developing in Armenia: different companies are interested in launching high-tech products in our country. We invite all investors to partake in the flight for which the Republic of Armenia is preparing,” the Prime Minister said, assuring that the Armenian government is set to solve all the problems in an open, frank, honest dialogue since the success of any economic activity in Armenia is the success of the Armenian people.

“I want to assure that all investors will have dialogue-based relations with the Government of Armenia within the bounds of honesty and legitimacy. Those who engage in economic activity will not have competitors in the government, since business and politics should be separated, and those who are engaged in politics should not engage in business. The Armenian government is able to enforce this condition within a short period of time because it has the full confidence of the Armenian people. We will not swap the people’s trust with any amount or any material value because there is not so much money and gold in the world equivalent to the value that has been created as a result of our revolution. This situation is a great opportunity for all of us, and I am convinced that it will not be depreciated: it will not be lost. And therefore, I am inviting all of you for a broad dialogue on a great future,” Pashinyan said.

The Head of Government answered a number of questions from MEDEF members regarding the regional economic situation, infrastructure, the opportunities and prospects in energy, road construction, food industry, pharmaceuticals, waste recycling and other spheres.