Valley Man Takes Post for Armenia
A Van Nuys businessman said Monday he was accepting the post of deputy minister of industry for Armenia to aggressively develop foreign investment in the new republic.
“My job is to introduce Armenia and the opportunities available in Armenia to the international community and to the United States,” Gary H. Bedian, 32, told a news conference in Glendale.
Bedian, who owns a commercial real estate firm, is a Syrian native of Armenian ancestry.
Ashod Safaryan, Armenia’s minister of industry and commerce, said in a statement that Bedian was chosen for his skills in marketing and as a negotiator to “play a major role in assisting Armenia in the transition to a free market economy.”
The widespread Armenian immigrant community has been a tremendous asset in business and government, similar to the role U.S. Jews played in helping Israel grow, he said.
He is one of several Southern Californians named to government posts in young republics that have emerged since the unraveling of the Soviet Union.
UC Irvine professor Rein Taagepera served as a member of Estonia’s interim congress in 1991 and is among four candidates seeking the presidency in elections Sept. 20. In war-torn Yugoslavia, the prime minister is a former Costa Mesa pharmaceuticals executive, Milan Panic.
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