On October 27, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan received the participants of the “Armenia as a Regional Jewelry Industry Center” investment forum organized by the Foundation for the Development of Industry and the Armenian Jewellers Association.

The minister cordially greeted the representatives of famous jewelry and watch-making companies from different countries and praised their efforts to continue and develop the rich traditions of the Armenian jewelry industry. Hranush Hakobyan attached importance to the successful exploitation of the Meridian Free Economic Zone for Jewelers on October 27, adding that the free economic zone can not only help create new jobs and infrastructures in Armenia, but also help the country become one of the major role-players in international jewelry industry.

The minister presented the programs and activities carried out by the Ministry of Diaspora and attached importance to the self-organization of the Armenian Diaspora and the role of professional associations in the solution to issues of national concern. The minister particularly said: “For 23 years, Armenian jewelers have supported the homeland and have participated in the country’s economic development. Over the past couple of years, they gather around the Armenian Jewellers Association and its gifted president Gagik Gevorgyan and try to turn Armenia into a center for the jewelry industry in the region. I dream of seeing the creation and flourishing of the Armenian jewelry industry in all parts of Armenia. With every new initiative, you prove how Armenian experts can become organized and contribute to the homeland’s advancement.”

Hranush Hakobyan touched upon the outcomes of the 5^th Armenia-Diaspora Conference and the participation of Armenian jewelers in the events to be held ahead of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The minister praised the jewelry exhibitions that the Armenian Jewellers Foundation will be holding in Saint Petersburg and at the Russian Institute of Ethnography in 2015.

During a slide show, senior scientific worker of the Institute Lusine Ghushchyan presented the samples that the members of the scientific expedition led by notable Caucasus experts Marr, Orbelyan and Miller obtained with the support of Russian Emperor Nikolay II following the Armenian Genocide and the cultural genocide in 1916. In six months, the members of the expedition gathered and brought to Russia four collections representing different spheres and layers of Armenian culture. Ghushchyan mentioned that the notable scientists transferred and preserved cultural assets that characterize the Armenian nation and the keys that will open the “doors” of the spirit and type of the Armenian nation. More than 200 samples have been selected from the collection to be showcased at the exhibition.

The participants of the forum also watched a film devoted to the programs of the Ministry of Diaspora.

The Arevik Ensemble of the Public Radio of Armenia and the Krunk Dance Ensemble of the Yerevan Children’s Center for Creations greeted the guests with their performances.