Author: Hambik Zargarian

 13:17,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Ambassador to Japan met on January 18 with Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Takako Suzuki, the Embassy of Armenia told Armenpress.

A number of issues relating to the bilateral and multilateral cooperation were discussed.

The sides discussed holding joint events on the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Japan. They attached importance to raising mutual recognition through culture, intensifying human contacts and engaging Japanese companies into Armenia’s infrastructure programs (road, water reservoir construction, etc), as well as renewable energy sector.

The necessity of expanding the bilateral legal contractual field was also emphasized at the meeting.

 14:41, 14 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Moscow supports Yerevan and Ankara in the establishment of a direct dialogue and hopes that it will be successful, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference.

“Armenia and Turkey have appointed their special representatives. Russia helped to coming to that agreement, and we are very happy that today that first meeting is taking place in Moscow. Our role helped to establish a direct dialogue”, the Russian FM said.

The delegations of Armenia and Turkey arrived in Moscow, Russia, where the first meeting of the special envoys of the two countries will take place. Armenia’s special envoy for the dialogue process with Turkey is Ruben Rubinyan, and Turkey’s representative is former ambassador to US Serdar Kilic.

 12:19,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian-Austrian Business Forum will take place on February 3 in Yerevan, the Ministry of Economy said.

Over 20 Austrian companies who are looking for partners in industry, wood processing, brewing, agriculture, hydro-power plants, banking system, education, security, healthcare and other sectors will participate.

The Ministry of Economy invited Armenian companies to participate in the forum. The deadline for applications is January 19.

 13:28,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. Bangladesh has formally conveyed to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) its intent to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) as the country prepares for a socioeconomic status change, Fibre2Fashion reports.

The proposal was made recently amid a cue from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), which could seek concurrence of its member-states—Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

These five Eastern European countries have over $1.5 billion annual bilateral trade with Bangladesh, which, Bangladesh commerce ministry officials think, can rise manifold if an FTA is inked.

Bangladesh and the EEC signed a memorandum of cooperation in Moscow in May 2019 to take forward bilateral trade. Later, a working group was formed to enhance trade and economic cooperation in 19 sectors.

The first meeting of the working group was held in November last in Moscow. In the meeting, Bangladesh expressed interest in concluding an FTA with the EAEU and the EEC suggested sending a formal proposal in this regard, according to Bangla media reports.

In fiscal 2019-20, Bangladesh exported goods worth $398 million to EAEU member states while imports from there were worth $1.106 billion.

 17:46,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The draft concept of introducing comprehensive health insurance in Armenia was discussed during today's consultation chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The draft concept was presented by the Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan and the Deputy Minister of Health Lena Nanushyan. It was noted that several models were studied in the process of developing the concept with the idea of a state health system as the basis. The aim of the reform is to create a system of sustainable health financing based on the principles of the social responsibility of the state and social solidarity of the population, and ensuring financial access to basic medical services for all groups of the population. The work done in the direction of financial evaluation of the introduction of the system, development of the package of basic services, definition of the groups of the population being insured, calculation of the necessary expenses were presented. It was noted that the draft is under discussion with the interested departments, and following the approval, a package of relevant legislative changes will be developed. The officials of the Ministry of Health emphasized that the parallel implementation of other reforms in the sphere, such as the improvement of infrastructure, the development of e-health, the strengthening of the capacity of the primary health care unit, is an important precondition for the successful introduction of the system.

An exchange of views took place on the conceptual approaches to the introduction of comprehensive health insurance. Issues related to funding mechanisms and sources, definition of population groups, insurance premiums and collection, service quality standards, calculation of the amount of money needed for the health expenses of insured citizens, cost-effectiveness, ensuring of social justice and social solidarity, investment risks were raised and a number of proposals were presented.

Emphasizing the importance of the reform, the Prime Minister noted that the primary goal of the comprehensive health insurance should be the prevention of diseases. Accordingly, it is necessary to introduce a model that will guarantee the operation of a cost-effective, high-quality health care system. The Prime Minister highlighted the introduction of a universal asset declaration system in parallel with the introduction of comprehensive health insurance system, taking into account the interconnectedness and interaction of these reforms.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan instructed to amend the draft concept based on the results of the consultation and submit it for final discussion.

 11:57, 29 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The National Defense Authorization Act that United States President Joe Biden signed recently includes important provisions aimed at holding Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for the war crimes they committed in Artsakh, United States Congressman Frank Pallone said on Twitter.

“The NDAA that President Biden signed yesterday includes important provisions aimed at holding Azerbaijan & Turkey accountable for the war crimes they committed in Artsakh. I will push to ensure the required reports are accurate in documenting these crimes,” Pallone said.