Only 5-10% are actively engaged in community life in Diaspora, Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan said at a press conference today, summing up the results of his visit to Cyprus and the USA. He stressed that there is an issue of getting familiarized with the Diaspora.
The visit to Cyprus from July 24-27 aimed at ensuring the successful pace of the Armenia-Greece-Cyprus Memorandum, meet with the Armenian Diaspora and visit Melkonian College.
“Melkonian College faces the issue of being closed since the number of students there is annually decreasing while the expenses grow. The leadership is planning to sell it and make investments in Armenia to implement educational projects,” he said, stressing that there are those who are against the closure and are ready to submit proposals.The Diaspora minister also stressed that in Cyprus he met with Egyptian Immigration Minister. The later expressed readiness to boost cooperation with Armenia. As a result of meetings conducted there Armenia also joined already acting Greece-Cyprus-Egypt Memorandum. The first meeting in the sidelines of the Memorandum will take place in Yerevan in October.
As to the visit to the USA, the minister stressed that there he conducted meetings with the Armenian Diaspora representatives. “We need to present the current situation in Armenia to Diaspora. We are not going to view them as an ATM. The relations with Diaspora will be mutually beneficial,” the minister stressed.
The diaspora ministry is disfunctional. It employs 90 people who earn $200/month, with no training and accountability. It is better to bring that number to 9 with real professionals with goals.