Journalist of “First News and Analyses” Hovhan Mandakuni in his recent article touches upon “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund holding its next telethon in Los Angeles and notes that the effectiveness of that event is relative as one year more money is collected, the next year less but still the gathered ammount hardly reaches twenty million US dollars..
“For ten million Armenians, spread around the world, those few dozen of millions collected once a year is not much, especially considering that one part of the collected sum remain unimplemented promises given to the fundraiser. So, the problem here is more fundamental and has a serious need of revision.” writes Mandakuni.
According to his observation, relationships with the Diaspora should come out of the priority of contribution and grow into the policy of development of investment projects- “Thus, Diaspora should participate in the state development of Armenian once or twice a year, but with more strategic investments, for which Armenian government should make offers.”
The reporter stresses that Armenia must ensure favorable business environment so that Diaspora can bring in investments, profitable projects, technology, values.
On the other hand, Mandakuni notes that Armenia lives through the time of theft and corruption citing the recent example with Edmon Khudyan, who has lost a few million dollars of investment and cannot reclaim his loss by the judicial system, having to ask the U.S. government to help him.
“As a result of all these the western Diaspora investments in Armenia significantly reduced and the Russian Diaspora investments increased, because the Armenian fund of Russia acts in the same corrupted environment and finds common language with the government of Armenia, adjusting and acting in that environment. National Fund raising becomes just a simple formality with relative effectiveness, devoid of any strategic nature. This mechanism is not adequate to the new situation and world developments, as well as to the challenges and opportunities of Armenia.”
