RA President, PM exchange views on number of challenges facing  country

ArmInfo.Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met today to exchange views on a number of challenges facing the country.

According to the press service of the Armenian government,  Khachaturyan noted the importance of the ongoing institutional  reforms in the country. According to him, the government ensures the  continuity of its programs for 2021-2026. He drew attention to the  fact that the biggest gap in the state during these 30 years was that  the country could not or did not want to carry out institutional  changes for a number of reasons.  However, according to Khachaturyan,  in some cases, it would be better if those reforms that were aimed at  the formation of state institutions would not be carried out. He  noted that today the work on their formation is often progressing  with difficulty, because it is difficult to change those bad  traditions rooted in the past. 

In his turn, Nikol Pashinyan noted that the government's approach  still remains the following - challenges should be responded to not  only symmetrically, but also asymmetrically. < By saying  asymmetrical, I mean the following, that in general, unfortunately,  today there are so many problems that we can constantly be pushed  into the mode of solving the problems of this moment, this minute,  today, which is also necessary. But on the other hand, it is very  important to advance the agenda of long-term strategic planning and  strategic reforms, starting with the education sector and continuing  in all sectors without exception.  Our main goal is that the state,  the state system should continue to work efficiently, irrespective of  individuals. In all cases, the importance and role of an individual  is very great, but still, this system must constantly push, motivate,  and to a certain extent force that individual, an official, to do  constructive work>, Pashinyan noted. 

The interlocutors also referred to the catastrophic earthquakes in  Turkey and Syria and agreed that the decisions taken in this regard  are correct. "It was really a very big disaster and to be indifferent  to all that simply could not and cannot be understood in any way.  Especially in the context which I also mentioned in my New Year's  address, that if we want to ensure the permanence of our state, we  must work to change the quality of our relations in many directions,  but first of all in our region, because regardless of everything, we  are here, and the countries around us, our neighboring countries are  also here>, Pashinyan said.  

According to the prime minister, the government, first of all, should  work on changing the quality of these relations, "of course,  understanding that we are not so naive to think that it depends only  on us.  Of course, it does not depend only on us and we do not forget  any circumstance."