Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, left, with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in 2019

Pashinyan Engages in Intense Political and Economic Discussions at Davos

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DAVOS, Switzerland (Armenpress) — Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan is participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. He participated in many activities and meetings.

On January 22, he and president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held an informal meeting lasting more than an hour about the current stage of the Karabakh conflict.

He did not indicate how well the meeting had gone, but he posted it on his Facebook page.

Pashinyan also held short meetings with President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel and Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly in the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shares a laugh with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, center

Pashinyan and the Brazilian President referred to a number of issues on bilateral agenda. They praised the friendly relations between the two countries and discussed expanding them.

Issues related to the relations between Armenia and Luxembourg were discussed during the meeting with Bettel. Pashinyan and Bettel highlighted the development of economic partnership and expansion of trade and economic relations. In that context, the sides underlined the necessity of activation of relations between the Governments of the two countries and implementation of concrete measures.

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During the meeting with Madbouly, trade was again on the agenda. Pashinyan and Madbouly emphasized the necessity of holding business forums during which the opportunities of implementation of joint investment projects will be discussed. They also discussed negotiations between the EAEU and Egypt on signing FTA. Mostafa Madbouly noted that he expects the support of the Armenian Government in that process.

Along the sidelines of the forum Pashinyan gave interviews to a number of leading international news outlets. The Government’s Facebook page informs that Chinese CCGTV, French Le Figaro and Swiss RTS were among them.

Nikol Pashinyan also attended the Media Leaders Briefing during which he answered the questions of Business Insider, the New York Times, German DPA, Russian Ria Novosti and Egyptian Daily News.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meets with Apple CEO Tim Cook, center

In the interview with Ria Novosti, Referring to the priorities of Armenia as the chairing country of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Pashinyan said, “Unfortunately, we have over 60 obstacles in the Eurasian Economic Union that hamper the normal process of integration procedures. This is due to the domestic regulations of the EAEU member states. The priority for us will be the elimination of those obstacles, in order we reach a real common economic zone.”

In addition, Pashinyan met Apple CEO Tim Cook. An advisor to the prime minister, Arsen Gasparyan, posted a photo of the meeting on his Facebook page.

He also met with Christina Ahmadjian, a member of the Board at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and then JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) President Shinichi Kitaoka.

During the meeting with Ahmadjian, Pashinyan said the Armenian government is interested in cooperating with the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its possible activities in Armenia. He added that the government’s goal is to turn the recent political revolution in Armenia into an economic one, and for that purpose major and real changes are expected in the economic sector. Pashinyan said Armenia has great potential for technological development, and the company’s activity can be prospective in this regard.

Ahmadjian attached importance to the ongoing processes in Armenia in terms of attracting new investment programs and expressed readiness to assist the Armenian government for establishing ties and cooperation with various Japanese companies. She said she plans to visit Armenia in the future aimed at further cooperation.

Pashinyan and the JICA President discussed the process and directions of the agency’s ongoing programs in Armenia, as well as the opportunities to deepen the cooperation.

PM Pashinyan said the Armenian side is interested in expanding the partnership with the JICA and is ready to take actions to implement new mutually beneficial programs and outline new cooperation directions.

Shinichi Kitaoka said all the ongoing programs will continue. He noted that the JICA expert group will soon visit Armenia.

The officials also attached importance to deepening the commercial relations with Japan taking into account the existing great development potential.

Pashinyan also met with eBay Vice President Cathy Foster. Pashinyan added that the World Forum on High Technologies will take place in Armenia in October 2019 and invited eBay to participate in the event.

Foster expressed her readiness to visit Armenia to discuss the means of implementing investment programs in the country.

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