Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA City Councilman Paul Krekorian.
After a visit to Canada, Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan led a delegation of government officials to the United States from June 28 to July 2 in order to negotiate and solidify investment agreements between the U.S. and Armenia. The visit resulted in investment agreements worth a total of $30.5 million.
The U.S. visit began with a visit to the ServiceTitan software company’s headquarters in Glendale, California, where the Armenian officials met with the company’s founders as well as founders of Teamable and Airobotics, which operate in Silicon Valley. Topics discussed included developing Armenia’s engineering education opportunities, scientific research, startup development and involving Armenia in multinational organizations. The officials discussed the government’s priorities in these sectors, existing issues and the Diaspora’s participation in the field’s development. A preliminary agreement was reached with ServiceTitan to assist in opening a branch of the company in Yerevan.
The Armenian delegation later met with representatives of over two dozens business associations at the Armenian Consulate in Los Angeles. Agreements on cooperation between Armenian companies were reached, and organizing a visit of the American Business Federation to Armenia was discussed.
The delegation also took part in a reception with major Armenian-American businessmen, during which Avinyan presented the new government’s Armenia-Diaspora cooperation framework and the new government’s priorities regarding international business engagements. During the meeting, the sides agreed to carry out projects focusing on knowledge and experience exchanges as well as opening manufacturing, waste processing, textile and renewable energy plants in Armenia. The businessmen plan to visit Armenia in the near future in order to launch the agreed-upon projects.
On June 30, the delegation met with dozens more Armenian businessmen, many of whom agreed to invest in a national venture fund and participate in a national startup summit in Armenia. The delegation presented its “Diaspora Bondsâ€
