Friday, 8 July 2011
Prime Minister Attends 13th Sitting of Intergovernmental Commission
The 13th sitting of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation kicked off today at Rostov-on-Don.
The sitting was preceded by a private meeting between the co-chairs, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and RF Minister of Transport Igor Levitin.
In his opening address, Tigran Sargsyan thanked the Russian side for a warm welcome by stating that “a tangible growth in bilateral economic exchanges has been recorded since the latest 12th sitting of the commission. Trade turnover between Armenia and Russia increased by about 10% to over USD one billion in 2010. During the first four months of this year, trade turnover was up 13% against the same period of 2010. Noteworthy is the progressive pace of Armenian exports to Russian markets with a 40% rise stated last year and some 27% - over the past 4 months of 2011.”
The Prime Minister said to be convinced that the bilateral economic potential is far greater and there seem to be quite good opportunities for boosting cooperation in a number of spheres, including agriculture and tourism. “To push ahead with the joint efforts, we should further strengthen the existing ties and implement new investment programs of mutual interest.”
In this context, the head of government highlighted the holding of a first Armenian-Russian interregional forum referred to as “Toward new achievements in interregional cooperation amid Armenian-Russian allied relationship.” “I should note that we have mutual interest on the part of country leaderships, societies and business communities in all the spheres of Armenian-Russian economic cooperation which is a strong boost for expanded business ties,” the Prime Minister said.
The meeting discussed and adopted a number of decisions on economic cooperation, on the status of the decisions passed at the previous 12th sitting of the commission, as well as concerning the bilateral legal framework, the current status and the outlook of trade and economic exchanges, fuel and energy system, transport and communications, information technologies, agriculture and the humanitarian sphere.
The sitting was followed by the co-chairs’ joint news conference during which satisfaction was expressed at the work done so far. Russian co-chair Igor Levitin stated in part: “Some 10 agreements and memorandums are being prepared for signing. I would like to express gratitude to the Armenian side for the setup of a free economic zone in Armenia. I think it may speed up the work of those enterprises handed over to the Russian side. I wish to point out that the Russian Federation supports the idea of releasing funds from the EurAsEC anti-crisis fund for refurbishment of Nairit chemical plant. We can state that modernized economies and strengthened economic ties will promote bilateral relations to the benefit of new jobs both in Armenia and Russia.”
