Monday, 26 January 2009
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Armenia Thomas Luk. The Prime Minister emphasized the need for developing a more pro-active cooperation between Armenia and Estonia, both bilateral and in the frame of the European Neighborhood Policy. Ambassador Thomas Luk advised that the Estonian foreign minister was scheduled to come to Armenia in the near future to discuss specific interaction development programs and introduce his country’s know-how in those areas of interest to Armenia. With a view to strengthening the dialog between the two governments through high-level mutual contacts, on behalf of the Estonian Prime Minister, Ambassador Luk invited Tigran Sargsyan to visit his country.
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan expressed his government’s interest in having Estonia’s know-how in the area of e-government and electronic society introduction. As for the financial sector, Armenia was said to be interested in such areas as securities markets, financial oversight, central depository operations etc. Prioritizing the ongoing pension system reforms in our country, in view of the Estonian foreign minister’s upcoming visit to Armenia, the head of the Armenian government said he would appreciate if the Estonian delegation could comprise a pension system representative.
Both sides indicated that the bilateral trade turnover and economic ties still fell short of the existing potentialities. From this perspective, they made a point of holding business forums to tackle this potential, get acquainted with each other’s domestic markets, commodity supply and demand levels, as well as build up new business ties. In this context, Tigran Sargsyan suggested strengthening the cooperation with the Armenian Development Agency.
At the request of the ambassador, the Armenian Prime Minister briefed him on the 2009 Government Program priorities and the steps for overcoming the global financial and economic crisis.
The parties have also referred to the Karabakh peace process. The Estonian ambassador underscored his country’s appreciation of the OSCE Minsk group’s efforts and approaches towards having a peaceful resolution of the conflict as soon as possible.
