France expresses readiness to consider UFAR`s development and expansion agenda within Academic City project
ArmInfo. Ambassador of France to Armenia Olivier Decottignies and Rector of the French University in Armenia(UFAR) Salva Nakuzi, , accompanied by RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MESCS) Zhanna Andreasyan, visited the territory of the Academic City to get acquainted with the details of the project.
The Ambassador highly appreciated the ongoing design works, describing the Academic City as a bold, ambitious and attractive project.
The French side expressed its readiness to consider the agenda for the development and expansion of the activities of the UFAR within the framework of the Academic City project. The Ambassador and the Rector attached importance to the latter in the context of attracting foreign students, given that the hostel and other important infrastructure will meet international standards. Zhanna Andreasyan, in turn, said that the full plan of the Academic City will be ready in the coming months. As part of the project concept, she said, work is being carried out in parallel on landscaping, designing the road network and the necessary infrastructure, after which the phased implementation of the project will begin. At the same time, one of the main points of the first stage will be the start of work on launching the railway service.
Academic City will be built on the territory adjacent to the 17th quarter of Yerevan. On January 4 this year, the Government of Armenia adopted a draft resolution "On recognition of priority public interest in relation to certain territories located within the administrative boundaries of the city of Yerevan and the settlement of Sasunik of the Ashtarak community of Aragatsotn region", for the purpose of constructing the Academic City.
The territory of the Yerevan 17th quarter, within the boundaries of which are located land plots owned by the state and the community, as well as land plots owned by individuals and legal entities, as well as the territory occupied by the Hamo Beknazaryan Hayfilm film studio will be transferred to the Academic City Foundation.
On April 21, 2023, the Academic City Foundation was established. On October 19, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the concept of the Academic City project. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia Zhanna Andresyan, presenting the project, stated that, according to the state development program of Armenia until 2030, it is planned to establish an Academic City as a modern environment for quality education and research.
Andreasyan said that up to 16 universities will be located on the territory of the Academic City - up to 8 state consolidated ones and up to 8 private or international higher educational institutions. "Currently, the concept describes in detail 4 clusters - technological, arts, educational and officer. The Academic City is adjacent to one highway; it will be connected to Yerevan and the railway, part of which already passes through the main section. It is planned that movement around the territory of the Academic City will have special regulations- by bicycles, electric vehicles and other means. About 44,000 people will work and live here," the minister said.
On the territory of the Academic City it is also planned to build research centers, production experimental centers, agricultural experimental arable land, a sleeping or residential area, a multifunctional concert hall, a cinema and theater, halls for various sports, as well as the necessary living conditions for a healthy lifestyle. It is also planned to build a national stadium with a capacity of up to 35 thousand spectators and swimming pools. "There will be three stages - design, which will begin in October and end in September 2025, construction - from October 2025 and end in December 2029, and maintenance, which will begin in full from January 2030," Zhanna Andreasyan said earlier.