Nikol Pashinyan Sends a Message

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sent a congratulatory message on the occasion of International Workers' Day. "Dear people, beloved citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

On May 1, we celebrate International Workers' Day, and I want to congratulate all of us on this occasion. Civilization is formed and developed as a result of work, and it is work that serves as the tool by which we can make the life of individuals and society better.

The key expression in what I have said is 'it is possible.' Work is, of course, a necessary condition for improving the life of the individual and society, but it is not sufficient, because satisfactory results come only from effective work, and to be effective, work must be based on knowledge and continuously developing skills, that is, on education and learning.

Typically, when we talk about education, knowledge, and knowledge-based work, we associate it with scientific-technical, technological, and research work, which is certainly not wrong. However, any work is much more effective when it is based on the practice of expanding and enriching one’s own knowledge about the nuances and specifics of that work.

This applies to everything—craftsmanship, art, entrepreneurship, agriculture, teaching, state, military, communal service, labor, and leadership. The states and communities that follow this logic achieve well-being.

The government and the ruling majority of the Republic of Armenia are guided by this reasoning, understanding that this is not a simple path because speaking about the necessity of expanding knowledge and developing skills means acknowledging that we do not know certain things.

And sometimes, at the individual, public, and state levels, it is not easy to admit that we do not know something, even though it is clear that everyone everywhere is unaware of certain things. Perhaps we need the strength to confess that we live poorly to the extent of our ignorance and well to the extent of our knowledge, and to expand our well-being, we need to reduce the volume of our ignorance and increase the volume of our knowledge—which is feasible through the closest interconnection of work and education.

Dear people, beloved citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

I congratulate you all on the occasion of International Workers' Day and wish that work means enjoying the results and creative joy for all our citizens and our society, because work should be a means of creating results and enjoying those results.

Long live the Republic of Armenia!"