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DE S T INAT IONS


Yerevan is an attractive capital, with buildings of pink tuff that catch the evening sunlight


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companies investing are Bloomberg, Pernod Ricard, Philip Morris and Atlas Copco. Last month, Moody’s rating agency revised Armenia’s


credit rating up from stable to positive, and forecast continued economic growth at 5.5 per cent annually. “In particular, ongoing investments in hotels will raise tourism capacity, new textile factories are being built, and the number of IT sector companies and projects is growing rapidly,” Moody’s said. It added that the IT industry was “providing a strong


foundation for the development of a skills- and knowledge- based economy”. On his Facebook page, Prime Minister Pashinyan said: “This is a really important development which increases international confidence in the Armenian economy and makes our country considerably more attractive to investors.” Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said the country was “attractive [both] for investors and entrepreneurs who seek harmony of soul and emerging opportunities for business.” As visitor numbers rise, those arriving in Yerevan


looking for this “harmony of soul” will find a peaceful city. There is traffic, but nothing on the scale of a Beirut or Cairo, and it is an attractive capital, with buildings of pink tuff catching the sunlight in the evenings. Republic Square has the History Museum, National Gallery, an impressive post office and large government buildings, many with colonnades and all facing the well-tended gardens and dancing fountains at its centre. Paris had Haussmann, while Yerevan had Soviet-born


Armenian architect Alexander Tamanyan, who designed the capital’s wide streets in 1920 in neoclassical revivalist


bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om


style. A monumental basalt statue portrays him poring over the masterplan at the bottom of the city’s much-photographed travertine Cascade, with the Tamanyan Sculpture Park at its foot. Intended as an art deco representation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the 572-step stairway, 302 metres high, offers good views of the city and Mount Ararat (see picture, pages 20-21). In a symbolism a little too obvious to be pressed home,


this Cascade was planned as a celebration of 50 years of Soviet rule, but when the rule – and the money – stopped, it lay unfinished for 20 years and had to rely on later funding from the US-based Cafesjian Family Foundation to beautify it. Get to the top and through a wire fence you will see a large hole where a museum was once planned. When, if ever, this will be finished is anyone’s guess. As you wander the city, depending on the weather,


you will see people playing outdoor chess – the country has a long tradition of producing champions. These skills may be necessary as Armenians seek to make an advantage out of what has so often been a disadvantage, its geographical position squeezed by larger neighbours such as Turkey, Iran and Georgia. “Not only do we sit at the crossroads of four different


bordering civilisations,” Vardanyan says, “but our recent peaceful revolution into a new political era, as well as our diaspora’s global influence, makes us an important community from an international perspective.” For that, it will need all its human resources, and a long-deserved run of luck.


CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE TOP LEFT:


A statue of Alexander Tamanyan, Yerevan’s chief architect; two aspects of the city’s Republic Square; and Kim, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian, who have Armenian heritage


DE CEMB E R 20 19


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