ANIF announces the appointment of Dominique de Villepin to its Board of Directors.

We are pleased to announce that Dominique de Villepin has been appointed Member of the Board of Directors of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), effective today.

Chief Executive Officer of ANIF David Papazian said: "As ANIF, Chaired by His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, begins to assemble what will be a world class Board of Directors, the appointment of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin sets the bar very high. Forever enshrined in political studies books for his momentous speech at the United Nations in 2003, in which he pleaded with world leaders to show restraint and diplomacy in the face of an impending geopolitical upheaval, Mr. De Villepin has held France's Prime Ministerial office, internal and foreign ministerial portfolios, amongst his past and ongoing accomplishments".

"We are honored to count Mr. De Villepin amongst our colleagues at ANIF and as an ally of the Republic of Armenia. ANIF is especially thankful to His Excellency President Armen Sarkissian for introducing us to Mr. De Villepin", added Mr. Papazian.

Mr. De Villepin said: "Joining ANIF's Board of Directors begins an exciting new journey. Like France, Armenia has recently lived through a significant rejuvenation of its political landscape and the fact that ANIF's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Papazian, is 37 years old and its Chairman, Deputy Prime Minister Avinyan, is 30 years old are indicative of this rejuvenation".

"Armenia has registered the fastest GDP growth rate, 7.1%, in Europe for the first quarter of 2019 and ANIF has both a bright future ahead of it and a responsibility in accelerating this growth even further. I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in making ANIF's success felt across the Republic of Armenia", concluded Mr. De Villepin.

Biography of Dominique de Villepin

Dominique de Villepin was born in Morocco in 1953 and grew up abroad, mostly in Venezuela and the United States of America, before moving to France in 1968. He is a graduate of l’Institut d’Etude Politique (Sciences-Po) de Paris and l’École Nationale d’Administration, He also holds a B.A. in Law and Literature. Dominique de Villepin began his career as a diplomat and served in Paris, in Washington, D.C. from 1984 to 1989 and in New Delhi as Embassy counsellor from 1989 to 1992. He then became head advisor for African Affairs at the Foreign Ministry.

In 1993, Dominique de Villepin was appointed Head of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alain Juppé, before being called upon by President Jacques Chirac to become his Chief of Staff from 1995 to 2002 at the Élysée.

In 2002, Dominique de Villepin was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2003, he managed the Iraqi crisis on behalf of France and upheld the French position against war at the United Nations.

In 2004, he became Minister of the Interior and then served as Prime minister from 2005 to 2007. During this period of two years, he committed himself to boosting employment and reforming the labor market, to reducing deficits and the public debt, as well as to stimulating growth and innovative policies through the creation of competitive clusters across France.

Dominique de Villepin is fond of literature and history. He is also known as a writer of essays dealing with Napoleon I (Les cents-jours ou l’esprit de sacrifice, 2001, La chute ou l’Empire de la solitude, 2008), diplomacy, Europe and international relations (Le requin et la mouette, 2004), but also essays focusing on poets (Eloge des voleurs de feu, 2003) and painters, in particular on the French-Chinese artist Zao Wou-Ki. He also writes poetry. His last book on peace-building and international challenges was published in 2016.