President holds consultation on Armenian-Czech, Armenian-Slovak economic cooperation agenda

In the series of meetings aimed at expanding the economic component in Armenia’s foreign relations, President Serzh Sargsyan took note of the report of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Czech Republic and Slovakia Tigran Seyranian on economic cooperation and the agenda of Armenia’s bilateral relations with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as on the prerequisites for the development of cooperation in various areas and the existing problems and obstacles. The Ambassador presented proposals on the possibilities of deepening trade and economic relations with the above countries and dealing with the existing problems.

At the beginning of the meeting, noting that next year Armenia will be marking the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, President Serzh Sargsyan stressed that the quarter-century anniversary should be celebrated with real achievements.

“I am glad that the Armenian-Czech relations have intensified recently, which is very noticeable, especially in terms of high-level visits, which have a positive impact on all areas of cooperation, and it is very important that the agreements reached during these visits have already been implemented or are in process of implementation.

The Czech Republic boasts a developed economy. I consider it an important partner of Armenia. The Czech Republic may go a long way toward promoting economic progress in our country. I think that both our citizens and we can see the revival in tourism industry, and Czech tourists are also contributing here. Although not too large, their number increased by 20 percent over the seven months of this year as compared to the same period last year. It also concerns our relations with Slovakia. I think that both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are important partners in the sphere of tourism. Therefore, we need to intensify our efforts in this area.

I am aware of the meetings held so far, I know about the results of the work done by the Armenian-Czech intergovernmental commission, but I would like you, Mr. Seyranyan, to speak about what is to be done ahead, and first of all about the existing problems, which as addressed may lead to economic revival,” President Serzh Sargsyan said.

In order to tap the potential available in the Armenian-Czech and Armenian-Slovak economic relations, the President of the Republic gave a number of instructions.