We will create 300,000 jobs in Armenia – Narek Karapetyan (Video)

Armenia marks the 35th year of its independence and is one of the world’s 110 poorest countries. Today the country needs major systemic reform. This was stated by Narek Karapetyan, coordinator of the “Our Way” movement, during the presentation of businessman Samvel Karapetyan’s economic program.

According to him, previous reforms have been shaped around other agendas. “The first 25 years of independence were focused on building a security system. The next seven years were shaped by internal contradictions. Meanwhile, an essential problem went unnoticed – Armenia was weakening,” he said.

Karapetyan stressed that population decline remains one of the country’s most serious challenges. “People were leaving then, and they continue to leave today. Armenia’s population keeps decreasing,” he noted.

Following visits to regions across the country, Karapetyan identified the lack of employment as the core issue. “There is no work in the regions. People leave their families behind to seek jobs abroad, leading to severe demographic and social consequences, including rising poverty,” he stated.

He also pointed to the decline of regional industry and production in recent years. “We see an economy in Yerevan built largely on tax revenues, but this model cannot sustain long-term growth,” Karapetyan said.

“We plan to create 300,000 jobs in Armenia,” he said, adding that the program is grounded in a planned macroeconomic policy, with industrialization as the first and fundamental step. “Today, the Republic of Armenia lacks sufficient productive and creative capacity,” he noted.