Vartan
Marashlyan

Vartan Marashlyan was born in Armenia and lived abroad for over 25 years before moving back to Armenia in 2010.

Vartan has over 25 years of experience working in both the public and private sectors. In 2012, he became the founding director of the Repat Armenia Foundation, one of Armenia’s leading grassroots organizations focused on promoting repatriation and providing professional and social integration support to repatriates. He also designed and implemented the Engage Armenia Forums in more than 20 key Armenian Diasporan communities worldwide, introducing a wide variety of meaningful diaspora engagement opportunities with the Homeland in an interactive and practical way.

Previously, Vartan served as Deputy Minister of Diaspora, where he was responsible for developing programs with Armenian communities abroad, organizing pan-Armenian professional forums, and creating young Diasporan leaders’ school. He also worked as an Economic Advisor to the British Department for International Development and as an assistant to the Prime Minister of Armenia. In the private sector, Vartan had extensive experience in real estate development and banking.

Vartan is a passionate advocate for strengthening diaspora relations. Having experience living in the diaspora, repatriating to Armenia, working as a policymaker, and now running a diaspora engagement institution, he has been an international expert on diaspora-state relations for over 10 years.

In addition to repatriation and integration policies, he offers hands-on expertise in assessing diaspora engagement infrastructure, crafting outreach strategies, building public-private partnerships, improving the sustainability of diaspora organizations, and maximizing the impact of diaspora investments. He is a firm believer in fostering sustainable, long-term trust between diaspora communities and the Homeland.

Vartan graduated from the Financial Academy with a degree in International Economics in 1997. In 2000, he earned his PhD in Economics from Moscow State University.