President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, who is in London on a working visit, met with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti. Armenia’s deputy prime minister Tigran Avinyan also attended the meeting.
President Sarkissian praised the effective partnership between Armenia and the EBRD and stated that major projects have been implemented jointly in energy, environment, infrastructures, natural resources, transportation and other fields within the framework of the two-decade-long partnership.
Chakrabarti in turn highlighted the effective cooperation with the Armenian government, stating that this is the best year in terms of the results. He said the EBRD is committed to continue providing support and informed that the new cooperation strategy is already ready. EBRD President expressed interest in President Sarkissian's proposed concept of "small country, global nation".
President Sarkissian reaffirmed the proposal made by Armenia this year in May to host the EBRD 2021 annual meeting.
The President said the 2018 La Francophonie Summit and the 2019 IT World Congress, which were successfully held in Armenia, show that Armenia is ready and has all the necessary infrastructures to host the EBRD annual meeting at the highest level. Deputy PM Avinyan added that the government is also ready to host this important event in Armenia, which will be another important stop in the partnership with EBRD.
The sides exchanged views on the implementation opportunities of new joint projects, touched upon the opportunities to develop the financial market and cooperate in IT industry and in the field of startups.
