Armenian speaker, Bahraini officials discuss developing ties

Arminfo
8 Feb 05

Yerevan, 8 February: Armenian Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan today met
parliamentarians of the upper and lower chambers of Bahrain’s
parliament. The chairman of the lower chamber of the Bahraini
parliament said that relations between Armenia and Bahrain could be
developing in the trade and economic spheres.

He said that in Bahrain there are specialists who studied in Armenian
institutions of higher education, and the kingdom is interested in
continuing cooperation in the scientific and education spheres.

The chairman of the upper house of the Bahraini parliament (?Abdul
Hamad al-Jufayni), also spoke out in favour of developing relations
with Armenia in all spheres. He said that the first visit of the
Armenian delegation will lay the foundations of the development of
bilateral relations.

The Armenian and Bahraini parliaments today signed an agreement which
will strengthen the legal field of friendly relations between the two
countries’ parliaments within the framework of the newly-established
commission.

Artur Bagdasaryan also met Bahraini Prime Minister Shaykh Khalifah
Bin-Salman Al Khalifah. The shaykh said that Armenia and Bahrain
have similar positions regarding the countries of the region. The
Bahraini prime minister voiced his readiness to defend Armenia’s
initiatives. Specifically, the League of Arab States will be informed
of Armenia’s desire to set up a centre of Arab culture in Yerevan.

Today’s meeting of the Armenian delegation ended with a reception
at the residence of King Shaykh Salman Hamad Bin-Isa Bin-Salman Al
Khalifah. Bagdasaryan conveyed Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s
greetings to the king and invited him to visit Armenia, which was
accepted with gratitude.

The king stressed that with the aim of speeding up Armenian-Bahraini
relations and developing friendly ties between the parliamentarians
of the two countries, he is ready to send experts of the Bahraini
parliament to Armenia to participate in the second session of the
Armenian National Assembly. The king also expressed his wish to open
an Armenian trade centre in Bahrain.

[Passage omitted: information about Bahrain]