Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hosted the participants of the «iGorts» program intended for the involvement of diaspora specialists in the state administration bodies of the Republic of Armenia.

In his welcoming address, the Prime Minister said:

«High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs,

Dear participants of «iGorts» program,

I welcome you all and I am glad for the meeting. I am also glad that the program is being successfully implemented, and during the previous years we actually had quite a lot of people who have been employed in the state administration system of the Republic of Armenia.

I hope that also after this round, many of those present will stay to work in Armenia, to support the Republic of Armenia in increasing the efficiency of the administration and management of state institutions, because in fact, our greatest need and necessity, like any state, is to have and attract personnel who are able to solve issues, rather than raising questions. That, I think, is the biggest problem, and I hope that those present are people with those skills and abilities.

And also, of course, this becomes a special format, a special mission in this historical period, and I want to thank all of you for showing this willingness, because for participate in this program, you have to make a decision, and it is not an easy decision at all.

I hope that this decision you made will not bring disappointment, first of all to you, and as a result of that decision, the quality of our public administration system will improve, our relations with the diaspora will be more substantive and concrete, and the results will be more measurable and tangible.»

High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan thanked Prime Minister Pashinyan for the appreciation and provided details on the progress of the program, stating the following.

«Honorable Mr. Prime Minister, dear «iGorts» participants,

The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia has been implementing the «iGorts» program since 2020, the goals of which are the improvement of the state administration system, the involvement of the Diaspora in the administration system, as well as professional repatriation. The program participants are involved in the work of the state administration bodies of the Republic of Armenia for a period of 1 year. Their work experience and abilities are applied in the works and programs implemented by state bodies, contribute to the implementation of innovative ideas and field research.

About 68 percent of the participants of the previous 2 rounds were repatriated, against the expected 25 percent. Some of them have been appointed to high positions, namely deputy minister, committee chairman, director of the SNPO, advisor to the minister and other public service positions. 60 percent of the participants of the 2021-2022 program who remained in Armenia got a job, 13 of them in the state administration bodies of Armenia.

Let me talk a little about the «iGorts» program 2022-2023. This year again we have 50 experts working in 24 different departments, including new departments for this year, such as the Statistical Committee, the Television and Radio Commission and the Market Supervision Inspection Body. The participants have arrived from Russia, USA, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Egypt, France, Canada, Belarus and Ukraine.

As you can see, Mr. Prime Minister, our «iGorts» participants are mostly young, but we have representatives from all age groups. Of course, we don't have any age restrictions and have no such intentions. They work with great enthusiasm despite all the difficulties. On the contrary, everyone realizes that with their involvement, with their participation, they bear a small part of the responsibility and burden».

The participants of the «iGorts» program expressed their gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Armenia for the opportunity to work in various state departments of our country and presented their work and shared their impressions.

An exchange of ideas followed. The Prime Minister answered many questions of the participants of the meeting, which related to the reforms of the state administration system, foreign policy, security challenges, reforms in the education sector, realization of the potential of the Diaspora, promotion of repatriation, digitalization agenda, social programs, balanced territorial development, etc. Nikol Pashinyan presented the steps and programs implemented by the Government in the mentioned directions, and referred to the upcoming activities.

Summarizing the meeting, the Prime Minister once again emphasized the «iGorts» program, one of the goals of which is to use the potential of our compatriots in the Diaspora in overcoming the challenges facing our state. «Our goal is to make Armenia an attractive and comfortable country to live in. We need to identify the root causes of existing problems and try to solve them. One of the fundamental reasons is the low or non-existent level of institutionalization. It is greatly appreciated that you have come and want to contribute your experience to the accomplishment of state institutions of Armenia. We must make efforts to ensure efficiency and development,» said Nikol Pashinyan and wished success to «iGorts» participants.