The governmental delegation led by Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on Thursday paid an official visit to Georgia at the invitation of Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili. 

After the official welcome ceremony, the Armenian PM had a tête-à-tête with his Georgian counterpart, during which reference was made to the issues on the agenda of the Armenian-Georgian relations and the prospects for their development.

The tête-à-tête was followed by an extended format meeting between the official delegations of the two countries. Welcoming the Armenian collegues, Mr Kvirikashvili noted that in the recent years the Armenian-Georgian relations have been distinguished for their positive progress. He also added that such high-level mutual visits contribute to the development of relations between the two states in different directions.

“We are ready to deepen the regional cooperation, intensify the commodity turnover and use the entire existing potential,” he said, adding that Georgia attaches importance to the further deepening and development of cooperation with friendly Armenia.

Karen Karapetyan, for his part, thanked for the warm reception, noting that Armenia and Georgia have deep historic roots. “Today we have entered a new stage of cooperation. The Armenian-Georgian cooperation continues developing in an atmosphere of mutual trust, which is the guarantee of the further development and strengthening of our relations. Our delegation is willing to discuss in detail the issues on the economic cooperation agenda both in terms of bilateral and regional development. We will try to find new ways to further intensify our cooperation,” he said.

Underscoring the importance of the existing political discourse between Armenia and Georgia, the prime ministers noted that despite the growth of the commodity turnover indexes, the entire existing potential is not fully realized in the sphere of economic cooperation.

Apart from this, Karapetyan and Kvirikashvili discussed a wide scope of issues related to the Armenian-Georgian cooperation in the sphere of trade and economy, energy, transport, agriculture, tourism and culture.

Moreover, the interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation in the sphere of energy, attaching importance to the development prospects in the sphere of transport communication.

The PMs of the two states expressed conviction that the economic cooperation can foster the bilateral trade and economic growth. In this context, the sides underscored the importance of the regional cooperation in the sphere of energy.

From the perspective of the expansion of programs and trade and economic relations, the possibility of creating the Meghri free trade zone and using it as a platform for making the markets of third countries more accessible.

The sides also referred to the historic and cultural ties, attaching importance to the preservation of rich cultural heritage.

Following the extended format meeting, the Agreement on Cooperation between the Health Ministry of the Republic of Armenia and Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia in the sphere of health” was signed in the presence of the Armenian and Georgian PMs.

Furthermore, on the sidelines of the official visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on cooperation between the State Food Security Service of the Armenian Agriculture Ministry and National Food Agency of Georgia.