Armenia attaches great importance to the comprehensive expansion of partnership with the US, and in this context, the strengthening of relations with U.S. states and particularly the State of California plays a major role. This is what Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan stated during a meeting with the delegation led by Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis today.

Eleni Kounalakis mentioned that she was very glad to be in Armenia, especially taking into consideration the democratic transformations taking place in the country following the velvet revolution.

The parties touched upon the strengthening of Armenia’s relations with the States of California, Colorado and Arizona in the fields of science and education, including the opportunity to intensify student exchange programs and particularly in public administration and high technologies. In this context, Tigran Avinyan pinpointed the positive experience of the Public Policy Program and the Manoogian-Simone Research Foundation being implemented through the combined efforts of the Institute for Armenian Studies at the University of Southern California and Los Angeles City Council.

The interlocutors discussed the steps need to intensify economic ties, including the possibility of opening of a trading office by US states in Armenia, and Tigran Avinyan presented the opportunities of high and information technologies in Armenia and the prospects for enhancement of cooperation with the US in this direction.