“We must perceive TRIPP as an investment prpject, because on August 8 it was a political statement,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with Public Television.
“The United States will lead that investment activity. And we, including the front office and the back office, must perceive it — and this is indeed the case — as the investor’s desire and aspiration to provide the highest-quality and most attractive services possible, so that as many people as possible use them. Because we say front office and back office, but there may be no person at all in the front office; there may be artificial intelligence, there may be ultra-modern equipment, and the main function of that front office may be servicing that equipment, and so on,” he said.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, in the airports of many developed and developing countries, biometric passport systems are in place. “Our goal is for citizens of the Republic of Armenia and citizens of other countries holding biometric passports to go directly, enter and exit without stops.”
He once again emphasized that TRIPP is an investment project being implemented in the Republic of Armenia; there is no TRIPP in Azerbaijan, and therefore he cannot say what will happen in Azerbaijan.
“The overall understanding is that in both countries border crossings and so on will operate within the framework of the countries’ legislation, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction. Under conditions of reciprocity, there will be access to transport routes and communications.
According to the agreement, after 50 years the percentage ratio will change, and the Republic of Armenia will already have 49 percent. Why? Because the calculation is such that investments are being made — billions in investments are being discussed — those investments must be recovered, and there must also be profit. The issue now is that any investor, in all investment programs — including in Armenia — wants to have certain guarantees that they will recover that money with a certain profit, because otherwise why would they invest? They could place the money in a bank at interest and recover it that way,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.
According to the Prime Minister, the duration of TRIPP’s operation — 99 years — was initially a subject of discussion.
“We were thinking and saying, but 99 years — we had a certain discomfort with these figures, including within the team. Then at one X moment we noted and said, but let’s look at this issue from another angle. The United States of America is implementing an investment program in the Republic of Armenia for 99 years, at least 99 years. That is, the world’s number one superpower is saying that the Republic of Armenia will exist for 99 years as an independent, sovereign state, will be at peace, and there will be a normal investment environment there.
I search and do not see in our early history any period when we had a 99-year perspective before us, when we had a 99-year plan, and we outlined and designed that 99-year plan together with the world’s number one superpower. I want us to truly appreciate this moment. And this correlates and corresponds with the agenda of the continuity of our statehood, which we have adopted since 2018,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
