YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and his Lebanese counterpart Saad Hariri discussed today in Beirut ways to expand bilateral cooperation in agriculture, ICT, tourism and culture, the Armenian government press office said.

It quoted Karapetyan as saying that despite friendly and close relations between the two countries, the Armenian-Lebanese economic relations lag behind the high level of political relations, and there is great potential to tap and develop.

He said also being a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, having the GSP+ trade regime with the European Union and a free economic zone near the border with Iran, as well as a business-friendly environment, Armenia allows access to larger sales markets.

’There are many areas where we can cooperate: light industry, jewelry, pharmaceutics, agriculture, information technology, and tourism. We also agreed that we will continue to negotiate over the establishment of an Armenian-Lebanese investment fund to support our joint initiatives. We also talked about the development of solar and alternative energy,’ he said.

In turn Saad Hariri said  the sides agreed to strengthen and develop relations between Armenia and Lebanon in different spheres and at different levels, specifically in the banking sector, especially as the Lebanese banks are known worldwide and have great potential to finance public and private projects. 
Karapetyan  invited his Lebanese counterpart to visit Armenia, saying  that a meeting of the Armenian-Lebanese intergovernmental commission could be held as part of it to discuss the above-mentioned  issues and outline new areas for cooperation. 

He also  underscored the important role of the Armenian community of Lebanon in deepening and expanding bilateral relations. -0-