BSEC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
15.04.2009 13:50

The 20th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of
the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) will be
held in Yerevan on 15 and 16 April 2009. The meeting will be hosted
by the Republic of Armenia. Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, will chair the meeting in his
capacity as the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States, as well
as the representatives of BSEC Observers, Related Bodies, Sectoral
Dialogue Partners and special guests are expected to participate in
and deliver statements at the meeting.

In the working session of the meeting, the Ministers will examine
the effects of the global financial crisis and the possible ways to
reduce its negative consequences in the BSEC Region. The Ministers
will also focus on measures to further improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of BSEC. As it will be recalled, the "Guidelines on
Improvement of the BSEC Efficiency" were adopted in the previous
Meeting of the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in
Tirana on 23 October 2008.

Some of the items on the agenda of the upcoming meeting in Yerevan are
appointments in the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat, possible
means of strengthening the cooperation of BSEC with international
organizatio ns dealing with issues of the protection and rehabilitation
of the Black Sea marine environment and the use of BSEC funds – namely,
the Project Development Fund and the Hellenic Development Fund –
for projects of regional impact. Topics such as BSEC-EU interaction,
appointment of Country-Coordinators for various BSEC Working Groups,
review of the state of cooperation among the Member States and the
status of implementation of BSEC Council Resolutions, Decisions
and Recommendations are also on the agenda of the meeting. The BSEC
Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs is also expected to consider
the applications for the granting or renewal of Observer status
and Sectoral Dialogue Partnership status to various countries and
organizations at the meeting in Yerevan.

At the conclusion of the meeting, there will be a ceremony whereby
Armenia will hand over the Chairmanship-in-Office of BSEC to
Azerbaijan. The Republic of Azerbaijan will officially assume the
Chairmanship as of 1 May 2009, for a period of six months until 31
October 2009.