Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Armenian, Belgian Prime Ministers meet in Brussels
On the sidelines of his 3-day working visit to Brussels, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met with his Belgian counterpart Yves Leterme.
Discussed were issues concerning bilateral relations and cooperation in EU frameworks. The parties highlighted the scheduled signing of an agreement on avoidance of double taxation which is supposed to provide better conditions for the development of economic ties between the two countries.
The parties have discussed the possibility of a visa-free entry arrangement. They spoke about business development opportunities, including the grants and loan resources available to Armenia on the part of the Belgian government through IB Company to procure a cyclotron for the oncology center operational on the basis of the Yerevan Physics Institute.
A Belgian company engaged in oncology is expected to cooperate with Armenia. Yves Leterme pledged support in this matter.
The interlocutors have also discussed regional and EU-Armenia cooperation-related issues.
During the briefing held after the meeting, answering the question on how well the Belgian experience could help promote economic ties with the European Union, Tigran Sargsyan said that the issue had been taken up the Prime Minister of Belgium who pledged support by noting that Armenia’s accession to the free trade agreement might create better conditions for further integration. Yves Leterme assured that Armenia would be assisted with all those projects implemented within the EU frameworks.
As to how well the Belgian side is informed on Armenian-Azerbaijani border clashes, considering that an international probe was due into the problem, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that the Vice Prime Minister Belgium who combines the office of foreign minister was present at the meeting and is well aware of the details of the issue. The Belgian foreign minister was said to have expressed deep concern over Azerbaijan’s intentions to resort to military settlement of the issue. The Belgian side assured that the problem will be kept in focus.
