ARMENIA, BULGARIA, TO DEEPEN ECONOMIC COOPERATION
armradio.am
11.12.2008 10:56
The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, started his official
two-day visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of Bulgarian President
Georgi Parvanov.
The Armenian President was welcomed in St Alexander Nevsky Square. The
two Heads of State reviewed the guard of honor and Sargsyan laid a
wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier.
After the ceremony, the two Presidents started a one-to-one meeting,
and the official delegations are holding plenary talks. During the
meetings Serzh Sargsyan and Georgi Parvanov ranked high the level
of political dialogue between the two countries. The two Presidents
noted that the economic cooperation and commodity turnover, in general,
yield to the level of political dialogue and necessary steps should be
taken in the direction of further development of economic cooperation.
President Serzh Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the President of
Bulgaria, saying that at different difficult periods of history the
Bulgarian people has warmly accepted our compatriots, who managed to
get fully integrated into the country’s life.
The President of Bulgaria also highly appreciated the
Bulgarian-Armenian relations and noted that the high level of trust
between the two peoples allows undertaking new programs.
The Presidents noted that the two peoples have historic similarities
and common issues, and many times they have resisted challenges
together. The Armenian President underlined that the two countries
also have a common future and this future is built on shared values,
including the Christian values, the contemporary democratic system,
which allows looking into future.
The leaders of the two states hailed the existing contractual-legal
field.
The two countries have 50 agreements signed. The Presidents signed
another four documents yesterday, one of which refers to the program
of organization and conduct of the Bulgarian Culture Days in Armenia
in 2009 and the Armenian Culture Days in Bulgaria in 2010. The other
three documents are related to cooperation in the fields of civil
service and state governance, excluding double taxation of income
and property, as well cooperation in the field of national archives.
The Presidents of the two countries emphasized the necessity to foster
the cooperation between executive bodies and the business circles,
and stressed that the Armenian-Bulgarian business forum in Bulgaria
will provide a good opportunity to the businessmen for working out
and implementing joint programs.
The Armenian and Bulgarian Presidents attached importance to
cooperation in the sphere of transport. Bulgaria’s President Georgi
Parvanov highly appreciated and welcomed the Armenian-Turkish dialogue
and expressed hope that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will
greatly benefit the Bulgarian side, as well. The two Presidents noted
that in case20of opening of the border, the transport communication
routes will establish direct links of communication between Armenia
and Bulgaria.
President Serzh Sargsyan presented Armenia’s intention of building the
Armenia-Iran railway. The parties attached importance to the necessity
of air communication. Georgi Parvanov invited Serzh Sargsyan to attend
the energy forum to be held in Bulgaria in April, 2009.
The President of Bulgaria expressed willingness to support Armenia
within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Program.