ArmenPress
July 1 2004

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL TAKES ROSTRUM OF UN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
SESSION
YEREVAN, JULY 1, ARMENPRESS: A senior Armenian government official
took June 30 the rostrum of the UN Economic and Social Council
session to introduce his government’s actions, aimed to alleviate
poverty. Manuk Vardanian, the chairman of a government-affiliated
state committee on real property cadastre, is heading an Armenian
delegation that has arrived in New York to attend the high-level
session, convened to explore possibilities for creating a favorable
environment to mobilize the resources of the emerging countries to
reduce poverty levels. This was the first session in which the
Armenian delegation participated after the country’s election to the
Council.
Armenian foreign affairs ministry said Manuk Vardanian’s report
centered on poverty reduction problem, saying that being an
international priority it demands mobilization of both domestic and
external resources and an effective cooperation between the
governments and international lending organizations with the active
involvement of the civic society and private business sector. He
added that direct investments are a key component of development. In
this respect he singled out the Millennium Challenges Account
projects, initiated by the US government and Armenia’s inclusion in
the list of 16 nations that may be eligible to new aid.