Iona Hobosyan, who was a guest speaker at the Second “Future” Forum of Leaders and Representatives of Armenian Youth Organizations of Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora, lives in one of the suburbs of The Hague, Netherlands and is an active member of the Armenian community of the Netherlands. In 2006, she took the initiative and created the Gladzor Youth Union in Utrecht. The organization has over 100 active members. Iona is also the vice-president of WostAYN pan-Armenian youth organization.

“The Armenian community of the Netherlands is a very organized community that has different unions and associations. For instance, among the unions and associations are the Armenian Student Association, the Young Lawyers’ Association, the Young Professionals Association and, of course, traditional Armenian unions and associations.

My dream is to see Armenians united since unity is power and provides the opportunity for close collaboration,” Iona said in an interview with Hayern Aysor.

Iona works in the field of tourism and is trying to help Armenia through her business. “We recently moved our organization’s call center to Armenia because I was certain that we could engage many great young Armenians in Armenia. And now, we are truly not only promoting the growth of tourism in Armenia, but have also created jobs. We have 12 employees.”

Touching upon the forum, Iona mentioned that she attaches great importance to such forums and conferences since everything starts from inspiration. “If we decide to carry out a project and achieve high results, we must first establish wide relations. Those relations are established during such forums. I’m certain that this forum will inspire many youth and that they’ll definitely create new programs and projects. The ideas born here will turn into a reality at other levels. I believe that all good programs and projects are carried out due to inspiration, dedication and good contacts.”