How did the Lebanese-Armenian businessman settle in the homeland and start a business

21.05.2021

Businessman Hovhannes Mkhjian had visited Armenia for a short time before the last Artsakh war. After the end of the war, the plans changed, and the questions around the previous ideas increased: What to do and from where to start?

“The best answer to all this was to be in the homeland, to build and strengthen our homeland,” he said.

Hovhannes lived in different countries. He was born in Lebanon, grew up in Constantinople, studied in America and Britain. After the April-2016 war, he bought an apartment in Armenia to visit his homeland more often. Even after the 44-day Artsakh war, he decided to have his contribution and to implement projects in Armenia.

“My goal was to buy land, build it with American comfort, Mediterranean colors and design, get beautiful apartments with at least 80% Armenian raw materials.”

The apartments are in Yerevan and different regions. All of them are designed for the Diasporan-Armenians, so they return to Armenia, buy and live here, as he did. Now he has a restaurant in Yerevan. They serve various dishes of Asian cuisine. They decided to name the restaurant “Janfo”.

“Jan” is the well-known “Jan-Jigyar”, without which Armenianness can neither survive, nor give flavor to our customers, and “Fo” is a type of a Vietnamese soup that is spread all over the world.”

Hovhannes Mkhjian now wants to move his business from Lebanon to Armenia. He has already adapted to Armenia. He also calls on Armenians living far from the homeland to first ask themselves what they can do to improve the situation in Armenia, and then work together to invest in the homeland.