On July 11, the RA Ministry of Diaspora, in association with the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Luys Foundation and the Ayb Foundation, launched the first “Armenia. Create Together” youth forum.

In her opening remarks, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan expressed her greetings to the participants of the youth forum and expressed confidence that there would be many interesting meetings, discussions and exchange of views during the forum. “I am certain that the forum will be the start of an interesting program and that it will unite and motivate you to come and help reinforce and empower our Homeland. After long discussions, we selected three directions that are characteristic of Armenia and the Armenian people. We Armenians have achieved success in the field of medicine, but we have strong potential that is the guarantee for our advancement. In the field of high technologies, I believe young Armenians can localize the international experience, share it in Armenia and try to use their talent and knowledge in Armenia. The third direction is the protection of Armenian interests and the media. Armenia is facing great domestic and foreign challenges. There are three key objectives for the Armenian Cause today, including Armenia’s empowerment, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the restoration of the violated rights of the Armenian people, guided by the claims stated in the Pan-Armenian Declaration. I would like to conclude by saying that the Armenian people have two goals-to create a strong and powerful Armenia and preserve the type and roots of the Armenian people and to become a nation of competitive people,” the Minister particularly said.

In his speech, RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan attached importance to the role of young Armenians in shaping the future of the Armenian people. “The objective of Armenian youth today is to preserve the type of the Armenian people and lead the people to a new milestone, and this forum is aimed at meeting this key objective. What is the mission of the type of the Armenians in overcoming the new challenges of the 21^st century? The world is in search of something, and nations are being classified. Are we Armenians capable of proving that we are a civilized nation? Today Armenians are trying to shape their future and maintain their existence in Armenia, Artsakh and different countries and great difficulty. I would like for such forums to be ongoing and to be organized for professionals.”

Member of the Central Board of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Vasken Yacoubian expressed gratitude to the organizers of the forum and added the following: “We are all engaged in the empowerment of the Armenian nation. The AGBU, which is marking its 110^th anniversary this year, has chapters in 70 cities around the world and knows very well that if we Armenians don’t have a strong Homeland, we can’t keep the Diaspora strong. Human potential is our major force. It is logical that we must combine our efforts to achieve success.”

Executive Director of Educational Programs of Luys Foundation Jacklyn Karaaslanian stressed the fact that the Armenians need to take action. “Youth are our great potential,” she stated.

Director of Ayb School, Vice-President of ABBYY Aram Pakhchanyan greeted the participants of the forum, stated that he was very excited that the long-anticipated program had finally been launched and added that he had great expectations from the youth.

The aim of the first “Armenia. Create Together” youth forum is to consolidate young scholars of Armenia and the Diaspora and Armenian students of high-class foreign universities to help them discuss and develop new approaches for partnership and propose programs for cooperation with their colleagues in Armenia for Armenia’s development.

The forum continued with discussions on “Medicine and Health”, “Engineering and Technology” and “Advocacy and Media”.

The forum will also include panel discussions and meetings with field experts, cultural events and visits to relevant professional institutions.

The first “Armenia. Create Together” youth forum will end with the final session to be held in Dilijan under the auspices of the IDeA Foundation.

The forum has gathered 90 young Armenians from Germany, Spain, Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Sweden, the Russian Federation, Moldova, Singapore, the USA, Lebanon and Armenia.