ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ATTACHES IMPORTANCE TO BILATERAL STATE ASSISTANCE TO BUSINESSMEN FOR SUCCESSFUL ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 5 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues of the Armenian-Romanian
cooperation were discussed at the October 5 meeting of the Armenian
Prime Minister Andranik Margarian and the Romanian President Tryan
Basesku who is on an official visit to Armenia.

According to the RA Government Information and PR Department,
expressing a high opinion about the Armenian-Romanian relations,
including the current state of the economic cooperation, the Armenian
prime minister stated Armenia’s willingness to strengthen and develop
these relations, with special emphasis being laid on mutual visits
at various levels. He expressed a hope that the Romanian president’s
visit will become a new incentive for the promotion of cooperation
and extension of economic links.

Noting that the relations between the two countries have always been
friendly, Tryan Basesku and Andranik Margarian underlined that the
Romanian Armenian community greatly contributed to the development of
links between Armenia and Romania. A. Margarian expressed his gratitude
to the Romanian people for providing shelter to our compatriots who
survived the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and
creating favorable conditions for them to live and work.

Welcoming Romania’s efforts to join the EU, the prime minister
expressed a hope that 2007 will be a historical year for the Romanian
people, noting with confidence that the country’s membership of the UE
will have an additional positive influence on the bilateral relations.

According to A. Margarian, it is envisaged to sign the EU-Armenian
Action Plan in the near future. He noted that Armenia is ready to
consider the opportunities of cooperation with Romania within the
framework of implementation of this action plan. In terms of promoting
the Armenian-Romanian relations regarding Eurointegration, the head
of the Armenian government also attached importance to the signing
of the memorandum on cooperation between the MFA of Armenia and the
MFA of Romania in European integration and Euroatlantic structures.

Addressing the issue of cooperation between NATO and Armenia,
A. Margarian said that our country intends to make full use of the
opportunities provided by Armenia’s Individual Partnership Action Plan
(IPAP), which was approved by NATO in December 2005, and is ready to
consider Romania’s assistance and participation in the implementation
of the Armenia IPAP.

As regards the economic cooperation, President Tryan Basesku and Prime
Minister Andranik Margarian noted with satisfaction the existence of
a favorable legal field for efficient cooperation between Armenia and
Romania, with a number of bilateral agreements being signed. In terms
of promoting the economic relations between the two countries, they
pointed out the importance of activities of the Armenian-Romanian
intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and
technical cooperation, anticipating that the most important issues and
development priorities of the bilateral economic cooperation will be
clearly outlined as a result of the second meeting of the commission
held during the visit of the Romanian president to Yerevan. The
prime minister underlined that the high level of relations between
the Armenian and Romanian presidents obliges the two governments to
carry out an adequate cooperation.

President Bryan Basesku also considered the current legal and
contractual base as satisfactory for economic cooperation, noting the
existence of a political will along with it in order to foster economic
cooperation and stressing the necessity for bilateral assistance to
businessmen, which, according to him, is a key for success.

President Basesku assured that Romania as a friendly country will
support Armenia in any situation, providing all possible assistance
for Armenia to establish closer relations with the European Union. In
this connection, he mentioned Romania’s support to Armenia when our
country joined the European Neighborhood Policy. In his words, no
country should become a EU member while having an ethnic problem. He
reminded about the problems that arose between the Romanians and
Hungarians years ago, as a result of which Romania was isolated for
about two years. "Europe should not tolerate such diversities, because
it is a multinational organization," the Romanain president stated.

During the meeting, the Armenian prime minister presented in detail
the steps taken by our country for Eurointegration since Armenia
became independent.

The Romanian president and the Armenian prime minister also addressed
some regional problems, the current state and prospects of Armenia’s
relations with Turkey, as well as the latest development related to
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. In this connection President
Basesku assured that Romania will continue taking a neutral position
on the issue of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.