As part of independence 29th anniversary celebrations, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today presented Armenia Transformation Strategy by 2050 at Matenadaran. In attendance were members of government, students, and schoolchildren

Addressing the audience, the Prime Minister said:
“Dear members of government,
Dear students, schoolchildren!
Dear attendees,
Dear compatriots,

First of all, let me once again congratulate all of us on the 29th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence. Taking note of the government's recent decision and considering the exceptional nature of today’s presentation, I will deliver my remarks without wearing a mask. At the same time, I would like to remind the need to comply with the anti-epidemic rules.

So, let me present the Strategy. First of all, what is the purpose of the Strategy? I will try to answer this question from today’s perspective, and let us look at today’s reality through the eyes of 30 years ago. Did we have an idea of the Republic of Armenia of 2020 back then?

I should state to my great regret that we have not had such a strategy for the past 30 years at least on a state level, and perhaps that is the reason for many problems we are facing today. Now, I would like to elaborate on the practical meaning of the Strategy.

Let us squeeze these 30 years into a single day and imagine that we wake up in the morning and do not know where to go and what to do. What will happen in this case? We will stay at the same point; we will find ourselves in a vicious circle. And, therefore, the 30-year transformation strategy is important for us to understand what we want, where we are going, and how we envision our Motherland, the Republic of Armenia in 2050.”

The Prime Minister touched upon the structure of the Strategy and talked about the Idea, Vision, and Action behind it: “It is extremely important to answer the question why the incumbent government is presenting a strategy till 2050. Because we perceive the Armenia Transformation Strategy not only as a government Action Plan, but also as an all-national movement in which state leadership should play a central role, which should involve the professional community, and, of course, the public at large too should consider it as their own strategy.”

Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Strategy refers not only to the reforms but also to the transformation that must take place in all types of public interactions, as a result of which we will be able to achieve leapfrog development. At the same time, the Strategy may be amended over time, and the government is looking forth to a broad public discussion on this issue that can lead to specific changes, including through the expression of election results.

Dwelling on the ideological basis of the Strategy, the Prime Minister noted: “The proposed changes are based on our National Values, National Goals, and Public Expectations. We need to understand what is the transformation’s ultimate goal and what task are we setting thereby? Of course, the most powerful ideological basis is the recently adopted National Security Strategy, which outlines the whole range of our national values, though 4 basic values can be singled out from the Strategy point of view:

1. Armenian Statehood: statehood is the only tool that allows us to make crucial decisions. We perceive statehood as a key value, and in this respect, I consider it important to highlight our statehood's viability and perpetuity as a practical imperative that we must accomplish.

2. Education: Education is a cornerstone, it is the only tool with which we can identify our problems and find relevant solutions.

3. Individual: family and society consist of individuals, and we consider the individual to be a national asset. By the way, I consider the individual effort to be a dominant idea in today’s Armenia.

4. Work: work is the only instrument through which we can tap on our creative potential. The government policy should enable unleashing creative potential through work with the help of high-quality education, personal freedoms, and development.

As another key element of the ideological base, the Prime Minister noted the following National Goals - the Perpetuality of the Armenian Statehood, the Appreciation of Armenian Citizenship, the Solid National Identity, and the all-Armenian Axis.

Regarding the formation of an all-Armenian axis, Nikol Pashinyan specified that by the consolidation of all-Armenian potential, we should also imply equal participation of men and women in nation and statehood building decision-making processes.

“Women are a majority in our country, but numerous factors prevent them from making use of their full potential in various sectors, from playing an instrumental role in national development, including in the Armed Forces, economy, and public administration. By consolidated all-Armenian potential, we should imply not only Armenians worldwide, but also segments of society, such as women, whose potential can be used effectively despite lack of institutional mechanisms or public consensus. The effective use of this potential is a strategic task for us.” mentioned the Prime Minister.

According to the Prime Minister, the Public Expectations per Strategy can be formulated as us wanting to live a happy life in Armenia, which would be Secure, Fair, Free, Dignified, and Progressive. The Massive Transformative Purpose of the Strategy manifests our will to “change the attitude of millions of our compatriots and foreigners towards Armenia.” The ideological basis of the Strategy can be summed up in three main slogans: “Armenia is my Home, my Nation is my Family,” “Let’s build Armenia the new way” and “The future of Armenia depends on one person, that one person is yourself.”

Concerning the Strategy’s Vision, Nikol Pashinyan presented the selected points of ambition foreseen for the period u until 2050.

The Action part of the Strategy includes 16 Megagoals. The Prime Minister went through definitions of each of the 16 Megagoals, namely:
- Educated and Competent Citizen and Nation
- Secure Armenia
- Effective and Accountable Governance
- Healthy and Safe Citizen and Nation
- Prosperous Multi-Child Family
- Rule-of-Law Armenia
- Mass Exports of High-Value Finished Goods
- Clean and Green Armenia
- Smart Territorial Development
- Productive and Responsible Farming
- Mass Repatriation and Integration
- Connected to the World Armenia
- Renewable and Ubiquitous Energy
- Attractive for Business Armenia
- Intangible Armenia
- Acknowledged, Reputable, and Hospitable Armenia

The Prime Minister next dwelt on walked through the notion of strategic targets, issues, and solutions of each Megagoal. Nikol Pashinyan reiterated the need to form a nationwide movement to transform Armenia.

"Soon, we will have a website referred to as "Armenia-2050," which will become a working platform for discussion, suggestions, and criticism. At the beginning of 2020, I declared that we had to shift the strategic management mode of action. We planned to hold this presentation in April - on Citizens Day, but we postponed it for well-known reasons. From now on, we must adhere to the principle of strategic management in our daily activities: any decision made by a state authority must have a logical and practical connection with the Armenia Transformation Strategy,” the Premier emphasized.

In conclusion, Prime Minister Pashinyan answered the questions of interest to the audience.