YEREVAN. – Armenia is an important partner for the European countries, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said.

2018 is an important year for Armenia as the country will mark the 100th anniversary of independence and will host Francophonie summit, he said during a press conference with Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian.

During his visit to Armenia, Mr. Asselborn will attend the opening of Luxembourg’s honorary consulate in Yerevan. Suren Zohrabyan will serve as an honorary consul.

Luxembourg has no embassy in the region yet, but opening of the honorary consulate is the first step, the foreign minister said.

Speaking about the development of economic relations, the minister noted that there are great opportunities for this, as Luxembourg is the second state in the world in terms of investment funds that total around four trillion euros.

“Unfortunately, the money is not ours, otherwise we would share it,” he joked.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian noted active ties between the two countries, adding that the visit is a good occasion to discuss issues of mutual interest. According to the minister, taking into account Luxembourg's experience in banking, it would be useful to hold a business forum.

Nalbandian noted the importance of holding a summit of Francophonie in Yerevan and thanked Luxembourg and personally Jean Asselborn for supporting the decision to hold a summit in the Armenian capital.

The Armenian Foreign Minister presented to his colleague the efforts of Armenia and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group towards a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.