ARKA News Agency
March 28 2005

Year of Russia in Armenia and year of Armenia in Russia to give new
impetus to bilateral relations development

President of Armenia receives today the Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia

RA NA Speaker meets with Secretary General of International
Association of Parliaments and Businessmen

President-Chaired meeting discusses elaboration of Armenia-EU
partnership program

Head of Armenian Parliament and U.S. Secretary of State exchange
messages

Russian political scientist forecasts revolutions in Kazakhstan,
Belarus, Armenia

International scientific seminar to be held in Armenia on April 18-19

Armenia has forcible arguments in favour of strengthening political,
economic and ethnic-confessional alliance with Russia

DIGITECH 2005 information, telecommunication technologies exhibition
to be held from Sep 30 to Oct 2 in Yerevan

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YEAR OF RUSSIA IN ARMENIA AND YEAR OF ARMENIA IN RUSSIA TO GIVE NEW
IMPETUS TO BILATERAL RELATIONS DEVELOPMENT

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. The year of Russia in Armenia and the year
of Armenia in Russia will give a new impetus to the development of
bilateral relations, as Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
told journalists. In his opinion, such a kind of events won’t be
limited by frames of culture programs, but will become the
demonstration of present and future contacts and a new stimulus for
bilateral relations development. `Our interrelations has reached
quite high level and it seems there is no room to move forward, but
this isn’t so, but plenty is still to be done and there is room for
cooperation enlargement’, Oskanyan said. In his words, the events
will make political, economic and culture ties between the two
countries closer.
Russia’s Year opening ceremony was held on March 25, 2005 in Yerevan.
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Russian President Vladimir
Putin were present at the ceremony. M.V. -0–

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PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA RECEIVES TODAY THE AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND
PLENIPOTENTIARY OF FRANCE TO ARMENIA

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. The President of Armenia Robert Kocharian
received today the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
France to Armenia Henry Cuny. As the Press Service of RA President
told ARKA News Agency, the sides discussed issues concerning the
forthcoming visit of the Armenian President to France during the
meeting. Issues of Armenian and EU cooperation, as well as current
state and perspectives of Armenian-French economic relations were
taken up. Kocharian and Cuny also touched upon the Karabakh conflict
settlement and regional cooperation issues.
To remind, the visit of Robert Kocharian to France is scheduled for
April of 2005. L.V.–0 –

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RA NA SPEAKER MEETS WITH SECRETARY GENERAL OF INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF PARLIAMENTS AND BUSINESSMEN

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. Speaker of the RA National Assembly Artur
Baghdasaryan held a meeting today with Secretary General of the
International Association of Parliaments and Businessmen Frederick
hide Chambers. The public relations department, RA parliament,
reports that during the meeting Mr. Chambers pointed out that the
Association is a nongovernmental organization founded in Great
Britain in 1977. He said that the Association aims at establishing
direct contacts between parliamentarians and businessmen, which
raises parliamentarians’ awareness of business affairs and
contributes to a dialogue between parliamentarians and businessmen.
Chamber stressed that the Association has its branches in 16
countries – Finland, France, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Sweden, the
USA, Canada, New Zealand, as well as unites 300 international
organizations.
During the meeting the sided reached an arrangement on considering
the issue of the RA Parliament joining the Association. The sides
believe that it will afford Armenian parliamentarians additional
opportunities in establishing new business contacts as well as
contribute to the exchange of experience and flow of foreign
investments in Armenia’s economy. P.T. -0–

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PRESIDENT-CHAIRED MEETING DISCUSSES ELABORATION OF ARMENIA-EU
PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan has held a
meeting with cabinet members to discuss the elaboration of a program
of individual partnership between Armenia and the European Union. The
RA presidential press service reports that the program is being
elaborated as part of the EU neighborhood policy. President Kocharyan
pointed out the necessity of deciding on `what we are going to do,
what directions should be included in the program, and at what speed
we are ready to move.’ According to him it is a most important moment
for the country, as `we can get a chance of serious assistance in the
ongoing reforms, in specifying their further direction, and, with the
EU structures’ aid, focusing on implementing them.’
According to the President, in selecting programs and directions of
cooperation attention should be paid to the points indicated in the
European Commission’s recent report on Armenia.
Kocharyan instructed all the government institutions to present
specific programs within a month. The programs are to be discussed by
special interagency commissions and, after being examined by experts,
sent to the EU Cooperation Council. P.T. -0–

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HEAD OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT AND U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE EXCHANGE
MESSAGES

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. The Speaker of National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan and U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice exchanged messages. As the Public Relations
Department of RA NA told ARKA News Agency, in answer to the
congratulatory message of Arthur Baghdasaryan, Rice stated: `My
intention is to work for the sake of future, which will provide
peace, security and freedom for everybody. The challenges are
numerous, and there is a lot of work to do in future ‘. US Secretary
of State thanked NA President for best wishes and highlighted the
work, especially in the aspect of fulfilling the above-mentioned
reforms in the future. L.V.-0–

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RUSSIAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST FORECASTS REVOLUTIONS IN KAZAKHSTAN,
BELARUS, ARMENIA

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. In the near future, Revolutions may break
out in Kazakhstan, Belarus and, probably, in Armenia – states with
soft authoritarian regimes, Director of the Institute of Political
Research Sergey Markov stated in his interview to NewsInfo. According
to him, the only obstacle to revolutions in these countries is the
popularity enjoyed by their Presidents. `Nazabayev is still popular
enough in Kazakhstan, just as Lukoshenko in Belarus. Some trends to
speeding up revolutionary processes can be observed in Belarus and
Armenia. The events are being sped up by America, which wants to have
leaders loyal to the West. In Belarus, the opposition is even being
financially fed up,’ Markov said. P.T. -0–

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INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA ON APRIL 18-19

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. International scientific seminar dedicated
to commercialization of science will be held in Armenia on April
18-19, stated Artak Sagradyan, the RA Deputy Minister of Science and
Education during the parliamentarian hearings on the concept of
scientific reforms today. He noted that the seminar is organized by
International Science and Technology Centre. According to Sagradyan,
heads of scientific institutes, scientists and interested persons
will take part in the seminar. It is necessary to create the strategy
of scientific-technical interests to integrate in international
scientific processes’, he said. L.V.-0 –

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ARMENIA HAS FORCIBLE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF STRENGTHENING POLITICAL,
ECONOMIC AND ETHNIC-CONFESSIONAL ALLIANCE WITH RUSSIA

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. Armenia has forcible arguments in favour
of strengthening political, economic and ethnic-confessional alliance
with Russia, RBC quotes Professor at Russian President-affiliated
State Service Academy Oxana Gaman-Golutvina.
In her words, the Year of Russia in Armenia and Russian President’s
visit to Yerevan can promote improvement of relations and crisis in
Kyrgyzstan may strengthen them rather than weaken. `I think the visit
planned long ago came just in time’, she said.
The RBC also quoted Modern Socialism Institute Director Alexey
Podberezkin as saying `we supported Armenia in areas of security and
defence. But Azerbaijan, Armenia’s neighbour and rival, is in good
terms with Russia’. In his opinion, it would be very `stupid and
senseless’ for Russia to improve relations with Armenia deteriorating
them with Azerbaijan. The expert thinks Russia’s top aim not to
destabilize the situation in the region. `I sure Russia can help
these countries to achieve considerable improvements’, he said.
Podberezkin is convinced the best means of influence is Armenians
living in Russia. There are also more delicate levers of influence,
such as currency export that can be restricted or make unlimited. In
his opinion, these means are more effective than threat or military
cooperation. M.V. -0–

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DIGITECH 2005 INFORMATION, TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES EXHIBITION
TO BE HELD FROM SEP 30 TO OCT 2 IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. A three-day information and
telecommunication technologies exhibition titled DIGITECH 2005 is to
be opened on September 30 in Yerevan. According to Information
Technologies Enterprises Union’s and Enterprises Incubator fund’s
joint press release, computer equipment as well as information and
telecommunication technologies for families and business will be
displayed at the exposition.
The exposition aim is to show the latest achievements in information
technologies area, to promote Armenian IT companies’ activity and to
present Armenia in the world market. Besides, the event is focused on
establishing traditions in Armenia to conduct expositions.
According to the press release, Information Technologies in Practical
Use conference is planned to be opened on September 30 in Yerevan as
well. The conference aim is to create favorable environment for the
businessmen consuming IT companies’ production.
The exposition and the conference are organized by Enterprises
Incubator fund and Information Technologies Enterprises Union. A
number of events, including contests on programming and E-content,
will be held before the exposition and the conference. M.V. -0–