YEREVAN. - Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia, Ashot Maukyan, on Thursday received the delegation of the USAID/Armenia headed by Mission Director Deborah Grieser.

Welcoming the guests, the Minister noted that the Government highly appreciates the programs implemented jointly with the USAID, which include various spheres of economy and public life.

Referring to specific programs, Ashot Manukyan underscored the importance of the support to the digitalization of the Geological Fund archive.

“This is the first very important step towards the reforms in the mining sector of Armenia. The second step will be Armenia’s accession to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It is included in the Government program and we hope that we will submit a membership application by the end of the year. These steps will lead to raising the transparency in the mining sector and attracting investments,” the Minister stressed.

Manukyan also highly appreciated the role of the USAID in the liberalization of Armenia’s energy market, training of professionals and support provided by it in many other areas, expressing conviction that the cooperation will be continuous also during the coming years.

Thanking for the reception, Ms Grieser, for her part, assured that the Ministry and USAID have a history of long and efficient cooperation in the sphere of energy reforms and regional integration. Touching on the adoption of the Action Plan aimed at liberalizing the country’s energy market, the Mission Director noted that the market liberalization will promote the competitiveness, accountability, transparency and efficiency of the energy sector.

According to her, USAID stand ready to continue its cooperation with the Ministry for the sake of the reforms in Armenia’s energy sector and diversification of energy resources.