President Vahagn Khachaturyan participated in the U.S.-Armenia Local democracy forum

President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan participated in the U.S.-Armenia Local democracy forum.

President Vahagn Khachaturyan opened the forum:

"I am pleased to welcome the delegation of U.S. mayors to Armenia. I had the opportunity to meet with some of You during my visit to California in May.

This visit, being the first of its kind, is especially significant because it takes place during this period of progress recorded in the bilateral relations between Armenia and the United States.

A few days ago, we hosted Armenia-US Strategic Dialogue Capstone session. During the Capstone meeting, Armenia and the United States reviewed progress on strengthening bilateral relations and outlined a vision for deepening ties in the coming year, to be formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding, to upgrade the status of bilateral dialogue to a Strategic Partnership Commission. The sides positively assessed cooperation to support Armenia’s ongoing reforms and democratic progress and noted Armenia’s aspirations for closer cooperation with Euro-Atlantic institutions and the West.

We attach particular importance to decentralized cooperation and emphasize the importance of further deepening cooperation.

The Armenian government pays great attention to the balanced development of the country, and in this regard, increasing the role of local self-government bodies is one of the priority goals. The deepening of cooperation with international and foreign partners can be a positive impetus for the realization of the stated goals.

A special factor uniting our countries is the friendly ties between the two peoples and societies. Active and multilayered human contacts deeply contribute to the development of the atmosphere of cooperation. In this regard, the bridging role of the Armenian community in the United States is invaluable.

Decentralized cooperation has been developing at an active pace since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and the United States:

I am confident that this visit will greatly contribute to the intensification of the established cooperation, as well as indicate new spheres of cooperation.

I would like to mention the agreement between the Government of Armenia and the State of California, signed in 2019, according to which the deepening of bilateral cooperation in various fields was laid on an institutional basis. The willingness to expand this cooperation was confirmed by the Governor of California, Mr. Newsom, at our meeting in Sacramento in early May.

We are interested in supporting strengthening relations between Syunik and California, Yerevan and Los Angeles, Gyumri and Glendale, Kapan and Glendale, Vanadzor and Pasadena. The idea of establishing relations between Tavush and Michigan, Armavir and Scranton, Stepanavan and Helena is also welcomed and encouraged, and I wish success to this initiative.

In these decentralized cooperation formats, we attach importance to the exchange of experience in the field of urban and public administration, the development of institutional capacities, the constant promotion of democracy and the rule of law in Armenia, as well as the deepening of cooperation in the fields of tourism and culture.

Taking into account the special attention paid to the field of information technology and innovation in Armenia and the progress achieved, I attach great importance to the development and deepening of cooperation in the field of information technology and tourism, which will serve as an additional incentive to make our bilateral agenda more intense and comprehensive. In this regard, it is valuable that our colleagues are going to visit Gyumri tomorrow, where they are also going to have a chance to get acquainted with the opportunities existing in these spheres on the spot.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Once again, I welcome you to Yerevan and wish you success in your efforts to strengthen cooperation between the sister states and sister cities within the framework of decentralized cooperation."

During the forum, memorandums of cooperation were signed between the U.S. cities Helena and Scranton and Stepanavan and Armavir, as well as between the Tavush region and the state of Michigan.