CARLOS GHOSN: “ARMENIA HAS HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO OPEN TO THE WORLD THROUGH ITS DIASPORA”
Tuesday 23 September 2014 12:09
Photo: UWC Dilijan
Carlos Ghosn and Ruben Vardanyan at UWC Dilijan College
Mediamax’s exclusive interview with Carlos Ghosn, Chief Executive of
Renault, Nissan and Renault-Nissan Alliance
One of the most popular top-managers in the world, President and CEO
of Renault and Nissan, Head of the Renault-Nissan Alliance Carlos
Ghosn was in Armenia last weekend by the invitation of businessman
and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan.
Lebanese Carlos Ghosn born in Brazil became famous for orchestrating
one of the most aggressive downsizing campaigns allowing to lead
Nissan out of the deep crisis it used to face.
Carlos Ghosn paid a visit to Dilijan, visited the monastic complexes
of Haghartsin and Geghard, Garni Temple, Matenadaran, Cafesjian Center
for the Arts and Yerevan Brandy Company.
Before leaving Armenia, Carlos Ghosn kindly agreed to answer Mediamax’s
questions.
– You spent 2 days in Armenia: what are your impressions?
– This is a private visit on my way to Japan. It has been a while
since I wanted to visit Armenia and this was a great occasion as I
was invited by my friend Ruben Vardanyan.
As you know, I am of Lebanese origin – there is a strong Armenian
community in Lebanon and I was already familiar with the Armenian
food, habits and the language. I also have a lot of Armenian friends
in many countries. But this was my first visit to the country and my
impressions were very different from what I was expecting.
– Could you explain why?
– First, the city of Yerevan is much more modern than I was expecting.
I visited the downtown thoroughly, including the Republic Square area
and the museums area. The Gafesjian Museum is really very nice. I was
also looking at all the buildings, nice apartments, coffee shops and
the restaurants. And there are a lot of young people. So the city is
much more vibrant than I used to think.
The second element I was much surprised by is the diversity. We
went to Dilijan and there is a moment when you enter the tunnel and
after it the landscape completely changes and you find yourself in
practically a different country.
The third element, which I already knew and suspected, is the
involvement of the Armenian Diaspora in the development of the
country. I have sensed the fact there is a lot of care to try to train
and support the new Armenian generation, so it can be up to the task of
the challenge of the development of the country and the economy. I saw
impressive proejcts realized in Armenia by Diaspora representatives.
So overall, it’s a very good impression because I didn’t know anything
about Armenia, except for what I had been told by my Armenian friends.
-You have visited UWC Dilijan College established thanks to Ruben
Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend and their friends and partners. What
do you think about that school, and its prospects?
– I am amazed by the concept – bringing young talents from all over
the world and educating them in such a good system where they can
exchange within themselves. The very high level of academics and the
environment which is really privileged are also stunning.
It’s a great idea to do it here, because Armenia doesn’t have too
many natural resources. Its main resources are human resources and
education is a basic quality of the country. Everything which can
create benchmarks in terms of education and can bring the international
community to get more interested in Armenia is good.
– Some people say there are a lot of similarities between Armenia
and Lebanon. Complicated neighborhood and geopolitical difficulties
are listed among them. Do you see any similarities?
– Yes, there are some similarities, and there are also some
differences.
The first similarity is the Diaspora. It’s one of the strengths of
both Armenia and Lebanon. There are much more Lebanese people living
outside Lebanon, and I think the same is observed in Armenia. I was
told there are eight to nine million Armenians and only three million
of them live in Armenia. Lebanon has four million Lebanese inside
Lebanon and probably 15-16 million Lebanese outside the country. These
people are the main support for the economy, because they are investing
in the country, buying houses and lands.
The second communality is the long history. Armenia has a long
history, it’s a very old country, a very old civilization and many
Armenians can go back thousands of years and tell you about the story
of their country. It’s the same thing in case of Lebanon. These are
old countries with a lot of historic happenings – some of them tragic,
some of them positive, and it also helps in search for the character
of a nation.
– Ruben Vardanyan has been saying that people are the main asset in the
21st century. Do you agree with that? How would you exploit this asset?
– It’s obvious. You don’t have oil, you don’t have huge agriculture,
and you don’t have sea. Your main asset is your people. Armenian people
are known all over the world in arts, in craftsmanship, in science,
etc. How to exploit this? Well, the first thing is education.
Not only schools and universities but also the benchmark of the
education needs to go up. The second is training. Education is not
enough; you also need to have on the job training and standards in
terms of servicing people whatever you are in – hotels, tourism, etc.
I would say the main is education and training, and this should be
an international benchmark, because Armenia has this huge opportunity
to open to the world through its Diaspora.
Ara Tadevosyan talked to Carlos Ghosn