There are great opportunities for cooperation between Dubai and Armenia, especially in blockchain technologies, Hans Henrik Christensen, Vice President of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), told reporters.

He mentioned that Dubai's Silicon Oasis is a state-free zone, and his major function as a leader is to support startups. According to him, in recent years, Dubai supports the creation and promotion of startups, and the state invests laboriously in this sector through venture funds.

Silicon Oasis is the biggest hub for startup development in the region

"I am pleased to note that the Silicon Oasis of Dubai has become the biggest hub for startup development in the region," he said.

Hans Christensen noted that the Silicon Oasis of Dubai has already signed a memorandum with Hayk Vardanyan, the president of the Blockcentro organization operating in Dubai. New memos will be signed during this visit, including with the inviting organization, Made in Armenia NGO.

During the three-day visit, Hans Christensen met with the Deputy Ministers of Economy and High-Tech Industry ministries, the ISTC Foundation, the Union of Employers of ICT, and the Union of Information Technology Enterprises. He has also visited the Tumo innovation center and Armat laboratories, NGO chair Ashot Grigoryan noted.

According to Ashot Grigoryan, Hans Christensen is quite impressed with the use of technology in Armenia. "The main activities of the Silicon Oasis of Dubai are to find new and successful high-tech companies and to support them in various ways," he said.

Tokenization under public administration

Hayk Vardanyan, president of Blockcentro company, informed that their company, founded in Dubai, has been cooperating with Dubai's Silicon Oasis for two years. They signed a memorandum with Silicon Oasis in March 2021 to create the world's first blockchain ecosystem in cooperation with a state structure. It is planned to build a corporation with equal shares with the government, which will be the first in the world to implement tokenization under state management.

Hayk Vardanyan explained that tokenization is a tool by which the assets included in the blockchain are digitized. And these assets can be bought and sold not only in the local market but globally, using the token. According to him, this is also very important for IT projects and startups that can tokenize their assets and attract finance through shares sale.

"We also have a vision of digitizing and tokenizing Armenia's economy, which creates an opportunity to have an economy without borders," he noted.

Cooperation in IT and startups support

The Vice President of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority added that Dubai is interested in IT cooperation with Armenia, as it needs outsourcing solutions in that field. He said it is planned to bring 1 million IT developers to Dubai, and they are interested in Armenian IT companies to establish branches in Dubai, with Emirati companies in their turn to be represented in Armenia.

"The main purpose of my visit is to understand how the IT ecosystem and culture in Armenia works," he said.

Ashot Grigoryan noted that Christensen visited Armenia to learn more about its IT sector, adding that a wide range of cooperation issues was discussed, and specific directions will be specified later. In any case, cooperation in high technologies and support for startup companies are considered a priority.

Dubai's experience in creating a free zone in Armenia is also being studied.

"Our vision is aimed at the future. We are happy that we are taking the first steps to build that future," said Ashot Grigoryan.