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  • "Will, Desire And Thought-Out Policy Are Necessary"

    "WILL, DESIRE AND THOUGHT-OUT POLICY ARE NECESSARY"

    http://168.am/en/articles/7111
    Ja nuary 23, 2010

    Interview of the ABBYY Company's Chairman of the Board of Directors
    David Yang to Mediamax Agency

    Recently, in Armenia people have been talking actively about the
    necessity to develop science-intensive economy, involve the scientific
    potential, which successfully fulfills itself in different countries
    of the world, in the republic's development. Mediamax correspondent
    asked David Yang, the Chairman of ABBYY Company's Broad of Directors,
    to present his understanding of these processes.

    David Yang was born in 1968 in Yerevan. In 1992, he graduated from the
    faculty of General and Applied Physics of Moscow Institute of Physics
    and Technology (MIPT). As a fourth-year student, David founded his
    first company - BIT Software, which was later on renamed into ABBYY.

    David Yung is one of the founders of Ayb Club and Educational
    Foundation, which plans to establish Ayb Learning Hub (ALH) in Yerevan.

    - A lot of Armenian specialists, who deal with promising scientific
    activities, work abroad today. It is obvious that it is quite
    comfortable for them to live and work there. According to you, can
    one organize the process of attracting them to Armenia?

    - What can Armenia offer scientists that the USA, Europe or Russia
    cannot? According to foreign scientists of Armenian origin, the most
    important thing Armenia can give is the student environment. Students
    and young scientists are people, whom they can pass their knowledge to;
    students, who will become a basis for revival of a strong academic
    scientific school. Many successful figures in science at a certain
    moment acquire a special attitude towards passing their knowledge to
    new generations. The very student atmosphere may serve as a point
    of attraction for compatriots, who would like to do something for
    Armenia. At the initial stage, there is the necessity of setting up
    educational-scientific laboratories under the best higher educational
    institutions. After that stage, in a few years, there will be people,
    who will manage to continue this process. And then investors and
    governmental financial means, necessary to equip more serious labs,
    will become available. Even if the government allocates millions of
    dollars for setting up advanced labs in Armenia today, who will work in
    those labs? I do not have much faith in the possibility to establish,
    using reasonable money, labs, which will provide the quality necessary
    to invite scientists only for scientific work. It is more realistic
    to attract scientists into especially set up educational-scientific
    laboratories and organize an "army" of young specialists around
    them. In particular, China has taken that path.

    China attracts scientific personnel not so much into laboratories,
    as into educational institutions and small scientific laboratories
    under those institutions. At the same time, one should realize that
    this process will not be easy either, since a higher school in Armenia
    needs serious reforms.

    - What is your attitude towards the concept of "Armenian World",
    within the framework of which they plan to turn not only residents
    of Armenia, but also the representatives of all Armenian nation,
    into consumers of intellectual and material production?

    - I believe that successful implementation of this concept in many
    respects depends on concrete services and products, which will be
    offered to consumers. If we talk about the sphere of culture here,
    of course, one should produce products in the sphere of theatre,
    cinematography, music, literature, where the target audience represents
    ethnic Armenians. But if we talk about material production, everything
    that takes place in the world today, dictates a diametrically opposite
    approach: integration into the global market.

    In this view, Armenia should find points of growth for products, which
    will be consumed by not only Armenians, but also the entire world. If
    we want to make technology competitive, one should take competitive
    basis as foundation, be guided by the existing level in the world
    and create something new basing on it. Israel is a bright example
    for this. A country, which has small population, which exists in
    conditions of constant war, managed to become one of the world leaders
    in the sphere of bio- and information technologies in the course of
    20 years. Another example is Finland. It is also a small country,
    with complex climatic conditions and with weakness of a part of the
    population for alcohol. Nevertheless, they set up wonderful industrial
    parks, the largest ones in Europe. One industrial park in Finland is
    larger than all industrial parks in Russia taken together. There is
    nothing impossible, one should simply study the best examples, chose
    an efficient strategy and thoroughly follow it. China is a gigantic
    country with gigantic population and with complex social situation.

    Nevertheless, China found the correct path of cooperation with
    its compatriots, working abroad, they started to return and what
    happens there now simply boggles minds. Another bright example is
    Taiwan. This is a small island without natural resources, 80% of the
    territories of which is covered by mountains. The population lives
    in conditions of full blockade by mainland China. Nevertheless, this
    country produces up to 60% of electronic components for the entire
    world. Thus, all this is already done in the world. One should set
    up a workgroup with participation of scientists, industrialists and
    patrons, who will study the practice of the above-mentioned countries:
    the necessary steps to attract investment capital, basing on which
    schools and higher educational institutions start to grow. Given the
    entrepreneurship talent Armenia possesses, given the creative mind of
    the people living hear, this is absolutely possible. Will, desire and
    thought-out governmental policy, headed by people, who enjoy trust of
    investors, are necessary. And then investment funds in Armenia will
    be established not only by people with Armenian origin. Residents of
    Armenia need full realization of the fact that success, both personal
    and the success of the country in general, depend only on them.
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