AmCham Monthly №2 Newsletter 2018

For a Better Business Environment

№2 NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER MONTHLY N1 MONTHLY

American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia AmCham is an independent business association operating in Armenia since 2000. AmCham represents the interests of more than 120 member-companies from almost all sectors of the economy. AmCham’s goal is to enhance US-Armenia business relations and improve business and investment climate in the country. AmCham is a member of US Chamber of Commerce and European Council of American Chambers of Commerce. AmCham is pleased to have also British, French and other European companies as members.

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AMCHAM MEETS THE U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, MS. BRIDGET BRINK On 9 February 2018, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Ms. Bridget Brink met with AmCham and other representatives of business community to discuss ways to further expand trade and investment between the U.S. and Armenia. “There are so many opportunities for Armenian businesses to access the U.S. market and for American companies to invest in key sectors of the Armenian economy. I am proud the State Department and U.S. Embassy in Yerevan can serve as a bridge connecting the two economies and helping us both prosper and grow,” she said. AmCham President highlighted AmCham priority areas and the project AmCham had been working with the US Embassy on.

CONTACT US 1 Amiryan St., Armenia Marriott Hotel, 3rd floor, room 315, 317, Yerevan 0010, RA Email: info@amcham.am/ amcham@arminco.com Tel: (+374 10) 599 187 (+374 10) 599 902 Visit our page: www.amcham.am

PUBLISHED AND DESIGNED BY AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN ARMENIA

February 2018

AMCHAM GM BREAKFAST MEETINGS AmCham Executive Office was pleased to host several company executives during its regular breakfast meetings held on 15 and 28 February 2018. The attendees from the following member companies were present at the event: Synergy International Systems Inc., Tufenkian Heritage Hotel, Factumsoft, Avenue Consulting, Good Credit, Oriflame Armenia, Regional Post, ICARE, Radisson Blu Hotel Yerevan, KPMG Armenia, Unicorn Trade, Energy Invest Holding, Amber Capital, Ericsson, and Cigaronne Armenia. As non-member companies, AmCham hosted the executives of TE Connectivity and Air Arabia. During these meetings, AmCham informed the participants about 19 March 2018 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting and encouraged the participants to provide feedback on opportunities and challenges that need to be raised by AmCham President during that event.

AMCHAM’S RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS NETWORK CONTINUES TO GIVE RESULTS In the scope of AmCham’s Responsible Business Network, we have another good story to tell about two member-companies’ engagement: Lydian Armenia Armenian mineral exploration and development company and World Vision Armenia, which works alongside individuals and families to promote the physical and transformation of 200+ communities in 6 regions (marzes) of Armenia by empowering them to build a sustainable future for all people, especially children.

Lydian Armenia donated 1500 trees to Kapan and Sisian regions’ communities that World Vision Armenia operates in. Each family received four to five trees from each category (pear, apricot and apple trees), and in total 97 families will take the advantage of tree support in the near future. AmCham would like to thank Lydian Armenia and World Vision Armenia for active engagement in the RBN life!

AMCHAM IN TIFA DISCUSSIONS WITH THE RA MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENTS On 17 February 2018, AmCham along with other business community representatives met with the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments, Mr. Azizyan, and Export Director of Development Foundation of Armenia, Mr. Mirzoyan, to discuss the agenda for the March 19 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting in Washington D.C., to provide feedback on areas for further improvement of US-AM trade and investment relations, and to gauge the interest of business community for participation. AmCham leadership confirmed its participation in the event and highlighted in the spotlight.

Currently, AmCham is gathering members’ feedback to be raised at the “Private Sector Workshop” session in Washington D.C.

AMCHAM MEETS THE RA PRIME MINISTER TO DISCUSS IPR ISSUES On 23 February 2018, AmCham’s Intellectual Property Rights Working Group had a meeting with the RA Prime Minister to discuss issues and provide suggestions on further enhancement of Intellectual Property Rights protection in Armenia - the topic to be presented at 19 March 2018 US-AM Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting in Washington D.C. The discussion was focused around IP-related law enforcement practices, customs, copyright, software piracy, and other. RA Prime Minister appointed respective government agencies’ representatives to work with AmCham and come up with solutions that would enhance the IPR protection. By the end of March, the full package of suggestions will be presented to the RA Prime Minister and his team for further discussions and, when agreed, for further implementation.

This meeting was a result of the work, time, and devotion of AmCham’s Intellectual Property Rights Working Group members: Microsoft Armenia, Knyazyan & Partners IP law firm, ArmAuthor, and US Embassy.

INTERVIEW WITH… Q: In this digital world, how do you see the future of education globally and in Armenia?

A: The key imperative today is to be competitive. This means being efficient and to create a visible result in a short time. Taking into account current trends in education and challenges related to globalization, educational system is improving globally and in Armenia particularly. To be competitive in the modern world, our students need to have access to high-quality education, especially in English language.

Armenian reality dictates that this can be primarily delivered online, which RSM does in many aspects.

Dr. Alla Sargsyan Director at RSM International

Q: Please, tell us about the history of RSM? What inspired the founders for this business idea?

A: The Russian School of Mathematics was founded in 1997 by Inessa Rifkin and Irina Khavinson, with the aim to create a successful after-school math program in the US. It is based on the traditions of the former Soviet and European education adapted to the needs of American kids. RSM has over 49 branches across the US, as well as one RSM-Online Branch that supports kids living far away from the physical branches. Armenian branch was the first international branch located outside of the US, it was launched in 2015. Nowadays RSM is opening branches in other countries as well, and there are over 25 thousand students attending RSM across the world.

Q: What are the differentiators/win themes for RSM compared to other educational platforms?

A: The RSM educational methodology developed throughout the last 20 years differs in many aspects: we especially emphasize the understanding over the memorization. Early introduction to abstract thinking and reasoning plays a crucial role here: followed by profound understanding it helps kids to make connections between formulae and the logic behind them.

Furthermore, RSM has developed its own educational environment to support interactive teaching, and it is up-to-date with the trends in the current digital world. As the number of students grows at an unprecedented rate, the RSM’s unique system develops continuously to meet the high demand.

Q: Being recently appointed as RSM Director in Armenia, what is your RSM vision for the next 5 years?

A: We plan to expand our activities by introducing more courses to Armenian students. We concentrate more on the courses that would give an advantage to Armenian kids on an international level. These are SAT (Standardized Tests) courses that are widely used for college admissions in the US, AMC (American Mathematics Competition), US National Math Challenge Program (NMCP) and Kangaroo Workshops etc. It is already 3rd year that any Armenian student can participate at Math Olympiad run by RSM Foundation, this gives an excellent opportunity to try out their Math strengths in a stress-free online environment and to see how they are compared to their peers around the world. We also value the cooperation with other organizations, recently together with COAF we organized Math Workshops for kids in Armenian villages. That was a great experience and we plan to continue our collaboration.

Q: In general, statistics show that the number of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers is lower than that of men in these fields. Any statistics for Armenia?

A: Worldwide 30% of STEM researchers are women.

Women dominate the total number of bachelor’s degrees, but unfortunately not in the specific sectors of STEM. In terms of gender equality in our country the situation is changing rapidly and many girls start pursuing their education in STEM sectors. The statistics shows that around 49% of STEM researchers in Armenia are women, which is great. Note that the situation in Math differs and it is only 27% in Armenia. We need to develop kids’ minds and sharpen appropriate qualities in young age in order to help the young generation, and especially girls, to be actively involved in progressive areas of science.

Q: There is a huge confidence gap between girls and boys that affects the way girls approach and relate to STEM subjects. Maybe stereotyping? What would be your recommendation for girls to boost the confidence up?

A: The recent research shows that girls think that they are not qualified enough for STEM sector, and the study suggests fixing this by encouraging girls to attend math classes.

In fact, RSM’s 20 years’ experience shows that this works! You are right, the cultural stereotypes about the types of work that women should engage in, still pose a major problem.

Nevertheless, with the recent technology development and an easy access to any educational resources, nowadays women can easily combine being a wonderful wife and mother and a high-quality professional in science at a time.

It is known that the number of women involved in sciences is also an indicator of the level of a country’s development. Quite often women overestimate the risks and underestimate their abilities, so the best way to build the confidence is to step in into the middle of it, e.g. while nominating or selecting for research grants, fellowships, prizes, especially in STEM areas.

Q: In general, there is a lack of female role-models in STEM. Do you have one?

A: In fact, every single highly qualified female professional can become a role-model for others. It is quite difficult to point out just one model, there are many of them in Armenia. It could be a professional teacher at school or an experienced scientific team-leader at a university, a female leader of a successful IT company or a supervisor of a scientific laboratory, etc.

Q: What would be the role of policy makers and educators to remove barriers and encourage girls to study STEM? How about parents?

A: A school should definitely engage students, teachers, and parents in discussions on benefits of STEM careers. Given that STEM areas are an important source of growth in Armenia, the policy and regulatory actions on a national level should resolve the systematic issues of bias.

Q: What was the most memorable example among your female pupils of how RSM turned the “horror” towards math into “deep love” to it?

A: This recent story came to my mind: one of the great RSM projects that helps overcoming the fear of Math is the “Math is Cool” project that is launched annually by RSM in December. This year a 5th-grade girl earned the all-RSM Founders award, a 3D printer, for her great presentation on Fibonacci numbers. By the way, she attends the RSM-Online branch and her Math Teacher is a member of RSM International team in Armenia.

Want to contact them?

RSM International LLC, Armenia Address: Kievyan 19, 0033 Yerevan, Armenia Phone: +374 11 990107 https://www.russianschool.com