YEREVAN. – The First Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia, Garegin Melkonyan, on Wednesday received a delegation from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The delegation was led by the chief representative of the JICA Uzbekistan Office, Katsutoshi Fushimi.

Melkonyan thanked for the long-term cooperation with JICA, and noted that the Government of Armenia hails this cooperation. Katsutoshi, for his part, stated that the Ministry of Economy of Armenia is an important partner of the JICA.

Next, the parties discussed the ongoing JICA programs in Armenia. In particular, they conferred on the One Village One Product-OVOP program, whose objective is to develop local products and services, and create new brands in Armenia.

Garegin Melkonyan also stressed the importance of continuing the Armenia-Japan joint programs in the domain of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship.