Bakur Melkonyan: Business in Armenia should closely cooperate with science

November 12,长沙USDT低手续费交易 2025  20:00

Most rapidly developing businesses around the world have a scientific base, they are knowledge-intensive. Co-owner of the Art Lunch cafeteria chain Bakur Melkonyan said in an interview with Suren Parsyan, the author of the EconoMIX program.

He noted that in Armenia there are very few businesses that cooperate with scientists. In his opinion, without a scientific base and know-how, a business will always lag behind and will never be ahead of others, and if a business provides this connection, it will achieve success.

"A business idea must be innovative, a business must work independently from a certain point, without the direct participation of the founder," Melkonyan noted.

What does it take to become a successful businessman?

He added that if you study the biographies of world-famous businessmen, you can identify 1-2 common character traits: organizational skills and publicity.

"Of course, it is also good if this is combined with hard work and other character traits. At the same time, there are no clear rules, by observing which one could become a successful businessman. Doing business means the ability to communicate with different people, establish contacts with them and be active," the entrepreneur noted.

He said that if some time ago the main factor in business was money, and later such a factor became the idea, now it is a team of performers who bring the idea to life.

"A successful team is the basis of a successful business today. All the business projects I have initiated in recent years are of a team and partnership nature," the entrepreneur explained.

How to choose the right direction of business?

Melkonyan noted with both satisfaction and regret that doing business in Armenia is quite easy.

“Unfortunately, because Armenia is not among the top ten most developed countries in the world, and fortunately, because in Armenia you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to do business. One or another trend in developed countries inevitably appears in Armenia within 1-2 years, and whoever is the first to implement this idea succeeds.

It is important to adapt this or that idea to the local market and modernize it so that the products can then be exported, given that the Armenian market is very small. At the same time, you can sell not only physical goods, but also technologies,” the entrepreneur said.

What are the differences between doing business in Armenia and abroad?

In this sense, according to him, there is a serious difference, and not in favor of the Armenian reality.

The entrepreneur explained that this even concerns the way of thinking. He noted that in Armenia, people do business only to make big money, expressing hope that this way of thinking will change.

Melkonyan clarified that doing business does not only mean making money. "In order to make money, a person can get a good job, build a career and get a guaranteed source of income. Business is a little more than just making money.

In addition, in Armenia and abroad, the attitude towards a businessman is different. In Armenia, the image of a businessman is associated with a criminal-oligarchic person who is engaged in fraud. This perception must change, since business is the backbone of the country. There is practically no strong country in the world where business would be weak," he added.

According to his assessment, in order to improve the image of a businessman, the state should also take on the function of protecting the entrepreneur. "This, in turn, will increase the level of interest of business in the public eye. A certain role in this can also be played by competent work of the media, which will not make a particular brand a target. This will increase the level of trust of the businessman in the media, pushing the person towards publicity. Relations between the media and business should be regulated at the legislative level, so that it is clear in which cases the media have the right to indicate the name of the business, and in which they do not," the entrepreneur emphasized.

How to develop a culture of corporate business management in Armenia?

In his opinion, the Armenian businessman has a problem with working together, there is no culture of partnership interaction.

Melkonyan called for taking into account that when accepting an idea of ​​one team member, all other team members who put forward other approaches should work hard to successfully implement the chosen concept. This is due to the fact that the result of the decision taken will be felt by all team members.

"In Europe, there are streets of restaurants or hotels, and this is beneficial to all the facilities operating there in terms of infrastructure development and marketing. One business cannot popularize Dilijan for foreign tourists on its own; all businesses operating in the city should do this," he noted.

What problems need to be addressed at the level of public-private sector cooperation?

The businessman said that taxes abroad are often much higher than in Armenia.

"In that case, why do Armenian businessmen complain about conditions in Armenia? The problem is that high taxes abroad are not a punitive mechanism, but a mechanism for supporting business. This mechanism helps business develop so that later it can be taxed even more.

We have only just begun to understand that the existing approach needs to be changed. Business needs help so that it can pay more taxes to the state," Melkonyan concluded.