Eurasianet, NY
September 28, 2006
ARMENIA TO DIASPORA: IT TAKES A GLOBAL VILLAGE
by Haroutiun Khachatrian
In a bid to boost economic development, Armenia has unveiled an
ambitious plan to enlist the support of the country’s Diaspora
population to promote the revitalization of border villages.
Representatives of the Diaspora have reacted positively to the plan,
but conditioned their support on a government commitment to
democratic principles.
`The development gap between Yerevan and the marzes (provinces)
remains one of the key challenges of modern Armenia,’ President
Robert Kocharian said in opening a three-day conference of Diaspora
members in Yerevan on September 18. Though Armenia’s economy has
posted double-digit growth for the past five years, Yerevan, with
one-third of the country’s population of roughly 3 million, produces
more than half of its Gross Domestic Product. Poverty is higher
outside of the capital, and migration a severe problem, with some
remote regions facing depopulation.
To reverse that situation, the Armenian government is looking to the
Diaspora to take on responsibility for the rehabilitation of roads,
irrigation systems, schools, and leisure facilities in 50 villages
along the frontier with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia. `We
expect that, after restoring the rural infrastructures, [the
villages] will become more attractive for investors, and moreover,
hopefully, part of the population who left those villages may
return,’ Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told conference attendees.
The government sees the sponsorship of 50 border villages by Diaspora
communities, organizations or individuals to act as the first stage
of rehabilitation for all of Armenia’s 159 border villages, Oskanian
said. The average cost of meeting a village’s needs is estimated from
$500,000 to $700,000. According to the minister, the government has
already received sponsorship pledges for over 30 villages, and hopes
that all 50 villages will find sponsors by March 2007. The Union of
Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia has also announced plans to
sponsor one border village.
Armenia has long looked to its Diaspora, at least twice the size of
the country’s own population, to provide investments and various
forms of assistance. The Diaspora, in turn, has looked to Armenia for
inspiration in preserving a sense of national identity and heritage.
Two previous conferences, in 1999 and 2002, elaborated various ideas
for preserving Armenian national unity, but without advancing
concrete initiatives.
Much of the motivation for Diaspora members’ pledge of support at
this year’s conference comes from the border regions’ strategic
status as a potential frontline in what many conference participants
termed Armenia’s new, `economic war’ with neighboring, oil-rich
Azerbaijan. The proposal has received the support of all
Diaspora-connected political parties and all of the country’s
principal religious organizations.
`Initially I thought that they again are just asking the Diaspora to
give money,’ conference participant Samvel Shnothogian told Armenian
public television, referring to government officials. `But I saw that
they are sincerely interested in getting a real outcome.’ The
government has also indicated that all options are open for
implementation of the plan, including having Diaspora sponsors
directly manage the future rehabilitation of all 159 border villages.
Diaspora members, however, had their own demands for the government.
Most conference speakers stated that they expect the Armenian
government to take decisive efforts to meet democratic standards.
Failure to satisfy this expectation would prevent a deepening of
Diaspora involvement in development projects. Current Diaspora
investment in Armenia is estimated at between $200 million and $300
million. `Diaspora Armenians need a new inspiration and this
inspiration can be provided by Armenia only. But not by this
Armenia,’ Petros Terzian, a French Armenian, said at the conference’s
closing session. `We need a democratic, fair country, free of
corruption. If you [local Armenians] fail to create such an Armenia,
we [the Diaspora Armenians] cannot do it either.’
With the exception of Foreign Minister Oskanian, most Armenian
government officials at the conference avoided discussing this topic.
The minister, who is expected to run for president in 2008, cited
corruption and the ability `to hold free and democratic elections’ as
among the `internal challenges’ that face Armenia along with the
`external challenges’ created by the operation o the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and growing cooperation between
Azerbaijan and Turkey. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].
While details about implementation of the Diaspora-sponsored village
program remain undefined, international organizations have recently
provided the government with fresh impetus for revitalization of
Armenia’s border regions.
Three large-scale programs totaling around $40 million and supported
by the World Bank, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe and the United Nations Development Program have been approved
to boost the development of rural areas, according to Agriculture
Minister David Lokian. Later in 2006, a $235 million rural
infrastructure program financed by the US Millennium Challenge
program, and a project financed by Armenian American billionaire Kirk
Kerkorian’s Lincy Foundation will also start work in the regions. The
government maintains, however, that these programs alone are not
sufficient to cover the rehabilitation needs of rural Armenia.
In apparent recognition of that assistance, representatives of
foreign donors such as the United States Agency for International
Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, among others,
were invited to the conference for the first time.
NOTES: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer specializing
in economic and political affairs.