TBILISI. Jan 26 (Interfax) – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan signed a declaration on strategic cooperation between their countries in Tbilisi on Friday.

"We had a very good meeting with Mr. Pashinyan. I want to note especially that today we made a decision on signing a declaration of strategic cooperation between our countries, which have historically been friends and allies," Garibashvili said at a joint briefing with Pashinyan.

Cooperation is developing successfully, and bilateral trade has topped $1 billion, Garibashvili said.

"I want to note with satisfaction that last year Georgia welcomed nearly one million tourists and visitors from Armenia," he said.

The two sides also discussed establishing a lasting peace in the region, Garibashvili said.

"We are ready to make our contribution to this cause to benefit all nations in the region. We are optimistic and hopeful about the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said.

The prime ministers also considered Armenia's Crossroads of Peace project aimed at developing regional relationships, with due respect given to the sovereignty of all countries, Pashinyan said.

"Our region could become a very important path for the North and South [and] West and East. All countries could gain economically from participating in this project," he said.

The Armenian government delegation arrived in Tbilisi earlier on Friday to attend an intergovernmental meeting on economic issues.