Third International conference on “Transformative Economy” opens at YSU

YSU press release 

The Third International Conference “Transformative Economy: Green Transition, Institutional Quality and Value Creation” has opened at the Yerevan State University Faculty of Economics and Management. 

The event is jointly organized by the YSU Faculty of Economics and Management and The Regional Science Academy.

The event is jointly organized by the YSU Faculty of Economics and Management and The Regional Science Academy (TRSA).

The conference is being held ahead of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), which will take place in Yerevan, amid growing international attention to environmental and sustainable development issues in the region.

YSU Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs Rafayel Barkhudaryan emphasized that such international academic initiatives are closely linked to the university’s vision of strengthening its research focus.

Speaking about the significance and format of the conference, Dean of the YSU Faculty of Economics and Management Karlen Khachatryan said that since 2024, the faculty has aimed to make Yerevan a regular meeting place for scholars and professionals. “Our goal is not simply to organize an annual conference. We seek to establish an international platform for academic cooperation at the YSU Faculty of Economics and Management, where representatives of different countries and disciplines can exchange knowledge and experience, initiate new research and develop joint projects,” Karlen Khachatryan said.

The opening ceremony brought together distinguished speakers, including Armen Nurbekyan, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia; Peter Nijkamp, Vice-President of the Regional Science Academy; Karen Zakaryan, President of the “FINARM” Association of Financial Market Participants; and John Carruthers, Associate Professor at Cornell University.

Around 60 scholars and researchers from more than 24 countries have traveled to Armenia to take part in the conference, including participants from the United States, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Morocco, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, India and other countries.

Keynote speakers include Nobel laureate Paul Krugman (2008, United States), Peter Nijkamp (Netherlands), Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Vice-President of the Regional Science Academy (TRSA) and one of the world’s top 30 economists, Caspar van den Berg, President of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands and Professor of Public Administration at the University of Groningen, and Karima Kourtit, Executive Director of the Regional Science Academy (TRSA), Netherlands.

Presentations are being delivered both in person and online across seven thematic sections. The conference program includes around 150 presentations by Armenian and international scholars and researchers representing 50 universities and research centers. The event brings together representatives of the YSU Faculty of Economics and Management, other Armenian universities and research institutions, as well as professionals from public administration, the financial and banking sectors, and research organizations. Representatives of the Central Bank of Armenia and the Ministry of Economy will also deliver presentations.

The conference will continue through October 9.

Certificates of appreciation were presented for significant support in organizing the event to conference sponsor Evocabank and partner organizations INGO Armenia, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD), and the Austrian Partnership Program in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR).