President Sarkissian participated at the “COVID-19: The success and pathways for global cooperation” online webinar: “We have to fight coronavirus today, at the same time looking into economic problems coming tomorrow”

President Armen Sarkissian participated today at the “COVID-19: The success and pathways for global cooperation” online webinar organized by the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST).

Among the participants of the webinar were also Lord Ara Darzi, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London; Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of FAST, founder and President of Moderna Company; Anahit Avanessian, Deputy Minister of Health of Armenia; professor Vardui Petrossian, Dean of Turpanjian School of Public Health at the American University of Armenia; Dr. Hitoshi Oshitani, a professor at the Department of Virology of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and a member of the panel advising the government on the coronavirus outbreak; Tomochika Uyama, Director General at the Secretariat of the Japan’s Cabinet on the Novel Coronavirus Disease and Prevention; professor Karl Lauterbach, Bundestag expert on healthcare issues.

During the webinar, which was moderated by the Executive Director of FAST Armen Orujian, the President of Armenia and reputable scholars and experts discussed avenues to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and spoke about cooperation of the countries in the fight against global challenges.

Speaking of the situation created by the pandemic, President Sarkissian underscored that it is necessary to take into account that, most probably, this is not the last pandemic and we should be ready for the next, “There is no doubt that larger investments in the areas of healthcare and biology should be made all over the world. We understand that the world has changed, and the behavior of the virus is in line with this new world. It is necessary to regroup and adjust all steps taken in these areas in the past.”

According to the President, this situation compares to a crossroad, and every nation should decide which way to choose. “Armenia too, is standing at this crossroad, thus we need to transform and set our priorities. There are priorities which are pretty urgent. Opportunities to present Armenia to the world should be reviewed; it means a kind of investment which will allow to disseminate information about Armenia for the investors to understand why to invest in Armenia. Second, the need for e-governance will increase. Education and electronic healthcare will become more important.”

In President Sarkissian’s words, along with economic difficulties there will be issues related to food security, and it is necessary to think how to overcome them. “We have to fight coronavirus today, at the same time looking into economic problems coming tomorrow. Probably, some areas of our economy need to be reformed,” he said. “This is a tragic period of time, but also an opportunity to decide where to start. If we are smart and have a vision for making decisions, this is an opportunity to restart, a good restart. We will be living in a new world, in a time full of challenges. Many things will be reassessed, and we need to understand how we will be moving forward. We will succeed if we are smart.”

The participants of the webinar presented the experience of their own countries in the fight against the pandemic and undertaken steps and measures. The co-founder of FAST and President of the American Moderna Company Noubar Afeyan in his turn provided information on the works conducted in Moderna related to the creation of the vaccine against coronavirus. Speaking of cooperation of different countries in the fight against the pandemic and referring to the voiced opinions, President Sarkissian stressed the importance of acting based on scientific approaches. He noted that authorities of any country should be able to use scholars’ opinion. “I believe that politicians in any country should first of all understand that the situation is catastrophic. All disputes must be set aside to unite in the fight against the common enemy – the virus. I trust you all will agree that there is one veracity – science. Discipline is also very important. There is no doubt that success of the fight against the virus in Japan or Germany was registered because of discipline,” the President underscored. “The next important thing is to have a program, strategy, and vision. In any area of our life activities vision and strategy are important. Thus, it is necessary to be scientifically infallible, smart, precise, disciplined, well-organized and to have a clear-cut strategy.”

President Armen Sarkissian stressed also the importance of interaction with the society. “It is important to voice, to present the truth and scientific approaches. Confidence too, is very important, especially in the times of pandemics. People should trust their governments and ministers, otherwise there will be problems,” he underlined. “A plan of action should be prepared beforehand. Every person should receive an equal, proportional assistance from the state, government, so that everyone is confident that the compensation was fair. Solving the same problem tomorrow will be more expensive then today.”

According to the President, today the world is living in uncertainty. “Uncertainty is everywhere. We need to understand that we really possess inadequate information. We are reasonable creatures on this planet and need to co-exist with viruses, control them. AHundreds of years ago Isaak Newton said, “I am like a boy playing on the seashore, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Great oceans of truth exist also today, and the pandemic is one of these oceans. Thus, there is a lot to discover in the future.”

At the proposal of the President of Armenia, the foreign participants of the webinar passed their professional recommendations to Armenia.