"THERE ARE ALL PRECONDITIONS FOR EXPANDING COOPERATION BETWEEN YEERVAN
AND MARSEILLES," YERVAND ZAKHARIAN SAYS

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. A cooperation agreement was signed
between the municipalities of Yerevan and Marseilles on October 19.
According to this agreement signed by Yervand Zakharian, the Mayor of
Yerevan, and Jean Klod Godin, the Mayor of Marseilles, economic,
educational, and cultural relations are envisaged to be developed
between the two cities. According to Yervand Zakharian, the cooperation
with Marseilles started yet in 1992 and at present, according to him,
there are all the prconditions for strengthening and expanding that
cooperation.

Yervand Zakharian stated that the trade circulation of Yerevan and
Marseilles made 53 million U.S. dollars in the first half of 2007,
whereas in 2006 it made 75 million dollars. According to the Mayor, the
volumes of the trade circulation have a serious tendency to increase
until the end of the year.

Jean Klod Godin, the Mayor of Marseilles, mentioned that irrespective
of the fact that a close cooperation has been established in different
spheres of the two cities, there are still a lot of unsolved issues: in
particular, unemployment among the young, increase in inequalities in
society, as well as management of natural resources. The Mayor of
Marseilles made assertions that the above-mentioned problems will be
jointly solved. He also mentioned that the economic cooperation between
the two cities should be promoted. For this purpose leaders of 50
French enterprises have arrived in Yerevan, who want to make
investments in Armenia.

Meetings are envisaged with the President of the Republic of Armenia,
the Speaker of the National Assembly, and Catholicos Karekin II within
the frameworks of the visit of the Mayor of Marseilles to Armenia.