Robert Khachatryan took part in the Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Armenia High-level Launch Event (I4SDR)

On June 7, Yerevan hosted the “Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Armenia” (I4SDR) high-level launch event.

At the meeting, the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the RA Robert Khachatryan, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Olga Algayerova, Deputy Minister of Economy of the RA Rafael Gevorgyan, Deputy Chairman of the Science Committee Artur Movsisyan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Armenia Patrik Svensson, Interim United Nations Resident Coordinator in Armenia Niels Scott.

Minister Robert Khachatryan expressed gratitude to the UNECE for the continuous support for the development of the national innovation system of Armenia.

“Innovation is crucial to Armenia’s future success. It contributes not only to its long-term economic growth, but also to addressing the social and environmental concerns that our country is facing. Armenia, with the potential support of the UNECE and other partners, plans to design and implement capacity-building programmes aimed at enhancing the innovation performance. Over the last years, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and UNECE have implemented a number of initiatives for the development of the Armenian national innovation system”, the Мinister noted.

Regarding the Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Armenia (I4SDR) review, Robert Khachatryan noted that it provides an excellent opportunity for the main actors of the national innovation system to benefit from the results of the review and use it as a supporting tool for further policy reforms.

“Only through coordinated national innovation policy we can avoid overlaps, build up synergies and accelerate the innovation-based sustainable development of Armenia,” the Minister of High-Tech Industry of Armenia added.

“Innovation is indeed unpredictable and risky, but these risks also open up opportunities for great rewards. We see this in the remarkable growth of the IT sector in Armenia, a testament to the innovation potential of the country,” said UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova.

Then the presentation of the results, main findings and recommendations of the I4SDR by the UNECE Secretariat took place. Further, national and international partners commented on the findings of the UNECE I4SDR of Armenia and discussed the outlook for the country.

The Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Armenia (I4SDR), a UNECE flagship initiative, aims to address these constraints and support Armenia on its journey of economic development. The I4SDR assesses innovation policy governance, institutions, processes, and mechanisms providing concrete policy recommendations for innovation-led, sustainable, and inclusive growth. Funded by the Government of Sweden, the I4SDR research process involved hundreds of innovation stakeholders and will feed into reform efforts and strategies of the Government of Armenia and forthcoming capacity-building programmes.