ArmenPress
April 2 2004
LEBANON’S PRIME MINISTER WRAPS UP YEREVAN VISIT
YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS: Wrapping up a two-day visit to
Yerevan, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, said the maiden
session of a joint intergovernmental commission focused on ways for
boosting commercial exchange between the two countries and reviewing
all previously signed agreements.
Speaking to a news conference together with his Armenian
counterpart, Andranik Margarian, Hariri said Armenian and Lebanese
officials agreed to set up a permanent joint structure that would
explore and facilitate investment opportunities in the two countries
and discuss new transportation schemes to promote bigger trade
exchange.
Armenian prime minister in turn said a lot has to be done for
proper study of the countries’ markets, which he said can be achieved
through reciprocal visits, exchange of information and other relevant
actions. He also said that Armenia has a lot to learn from Lebanon’s
burgeoning tourism industry.
Hariri, arrived in Yerevan accompanied by cabinet ministers and
four ethnic Armenian members of the Lebanese parliament. Before the
1975 civil war Lebanon was home to one of the most influential
Armenian communities abroad numbering more than 300,000, but despite
that thousands of them chose to emigrate to Europe and USA, the
community is represented in the government and parliament, being also
instrumental in contributing to warm political relations between the
two nations.