Presidents of Armenia and Iraq made statements for the press

President Vahagn Khachaturyan, who is on an official visit to Iraq, and President of the Republic of Iraq Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid summed up their private conversation and the meeting of the two countries' delegations in an expanded format with statements to the media.

The President of the Republic stated in his speech։

"Today I am here in Baghdad with great joy, within the framework of the first official and thus historic visit of the President of the Republic of Armenia to the friendly Republic of Iraq. I am grateful for your warm welcome and hospitality.

Months ago, we welcomed my counterpart Dr. Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid in Yerevan, within the framework of the historic visit of the President of the Republic of Iraq. Today, my visit to the Republic of Iraq is another historical achievement in the history of our bilateral relations, which testifies to the high level of political dialogue between Armenia and Iraq.

During the warm conversation with President Rashid, we discussed the broad agenda of the development of Armenian-Iraqi cooperation, we touched upon many issues of mutual interest. In particular, we emphasized the maintenance of a high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Iraq, the continuity of high-level mutual visits and meetings, and the expansion of the existing legal-contractual field between the two countries in various spheres.

We stated with satisfaction the growth rates of trade turnover between Armenia and Iraq in recent years, stressing the importance of deepening trade and economic ties and diversification of imports and exports between our countries.

We agreed that the relevant agencies of both sides will work to enhance business ties and ensure mutual active participation in exhibitions and conferences of various fields held in Armenia and Iraq.

From the point of view of the development of Armenian-Iraqi relations, we stressed the role of the Armenian-Iraqi Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation and noted with satisfaction that the points of the protocol signed in the result of the commission’s regular meeting last September have already begun to be implemented, giving a new impetus to bilateral cooperation.

We attached importance to the intensification of cooperation between Armenia and Iraq in the fields of energy, agriculture, high technologies, in particular, digitalization, e-government, technological education and other related fields, as well as in the fields of health, education, science, culture and humanitarian, noting the great potential existing in the above-mentioned spheres.

We touched upon the prospects for deepening Armenian-Iraqi cooperation in the fields of defense and security, noting mutual interest in developing ties in these areas.

In the context of Armenian-Iraqi relations, we attached importance to the role of the Armenian community in Iraq. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like to once again express my deep gratitude to the leadership and people of friendly Iraq for providing shelter, freedom of living and ample opportunities for creativity to the Armenian Genocide survivors. Iraqi Armenians have always been full-fledged citizens of your country, contributing to the prosperity and development of Iraq with their talents and abilities.

We discussed a number of issues related to regional developments, stressing the need for a peaceful settlement of existing conflicts based on international law and respect by all countries for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and equal rights of each other.

I presented to my counterpart the work carried out by the Republic of Armenia to establish stability and peace in the South Caucasus. I once again underlined the importance of unblocking the regional infrastructure and in this context the "Crossroads of Peace" project.

I would like to once again express my deep gratitude to President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid for the warm hospitality of the delegation led by me and for holding discussions in a friendly atmosphere."