On May 12, the official inauguration of the session of the 4^th General Assembly of the Armenian Trade Network and the 2^nd Business Forum was held by the RA Ministry of Diaspora and the Armenian Trade Network (ATN), in collaboration with the Unions of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia and Artsakh.

In her opening remarks, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan greeted the participants of the forum and particularly said: “The fact that the forum is taking place in the year marking the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide is symbolic because even though the Turks not only killed and massacred the Armenians, but also extirpated them, Armenians around the world managed to settle in different countries and become lawyers, doctors and engineers, but most Armenians became businessmen. You’ll find Armenian businessmen in any country. It’s nice to see that Armenian businessmen tried to come together and create the ATN throughout the past 4-5 years.”

In his speech, RA Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan mentioned that the Armenian Trade Network serves as a new platform in Armenia’s economy. According to Karapetyan, agriculture is one of Armenia’s major fields and there are great prerequisites for the field to become industrial.

“We urge our compatriots to make investments in the homeland. There is great potential in Armenia. Doing business is getting easier year after year, and many reforms have been made to engage investments over the past couple of years,” the minister added.

President of the Armenian Trade Network (ATN) Vahram Pirjanian (Canada) welcomed the participants of the forum and mentioned that today they were continuing what they started in Yerevan in April 2011.

“It was a long road, and the challenges were difficult, but we managed to succeed. I attach importance to the investments of Armenian businessmen in small and medium business. We have been noticing many reforms recently, and we hope they will be ongoing.

Let us add that the forum will be held through three plenary sessions with the participation of representatives of Armenian chambers of commerce and industry and unions of businessmen of foreign countries and Armenia’s large commercial organizations, as well as businessmen from Armenia, Artsakh and other countries around the world. The participants will discuss issues related to business investments and the improvement of the business climate in Armenia and Artsakh.

The forum will include the slide show presentation entitled “The Mission and Activities of the ATN: Creation of “New Era” Global Network of Businessmen”.