RA President: Iraq is Armenia`s important and reliable partner of  Middle East; Yerevan is interested in developing bilateral agenda  with Baghdad

ArmInfo.There is a special dynamic in Armenian-Iraqi relations today. The bilateral agenda is quite extensive and includes many areas of cooperation - from trade and economic relations to the educational, cultural, humanitarian, and information technology sectors. RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan stated at a joint briefing with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid.

According to him, the visit of the Iraqi leader is historical,  because since the establishment of diplomatic relations, he became  the first Iraqi president to pay an official visit to Armenia. "I am  confident that your visit will open a new page in Armenian-Iraqi  relations, and will also give a powerful boost to the deepening and  expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation," Khachaturyan noted.

He added that both the rich past of Armenian-Arab historical and  cultural ties and the presence of an Armenian community in Iraq,  which has a long history, are a solid basis for the dynamic  development of relations between the two countries. "The Armenian  people are grateful to the friendly people of Iraq for accepting and  providing shelter to Armenian emigrants who survived the Armenian  Genocide. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the  friendly Iraqi authorities for taking care of the Iraqi Armenians and  providing all conditions for life and normal activities," the RA  President emphasized, adding that Iraq is an important and reliable  partner of Armenia in the Middle East region. Yerevan is very  interested in developing a bilateral agenda with Baghdad, especially  in the trade and economic sectors.

Khachaturyan noted that in recent years there has been a noticeable  increase in trade turnover between the countries. "The next meeting  of the Armenian- Iraqi Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic  Cooperation took place on September 12-13. Both sides emphasized the  speedy implementation of the agreements reached following the  meeting. At the meeting, the most promising directions in the fields  of agriculture, renewable energy production, infrastructure  development and restoration, food and light industry, education,  science and culture were discussed. The significant potential of  bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of high  technology and digitalization were especially emphasized. In this  regard, I mentioned that Armenia is ready to transfer its successful  experience accumulated during years of work in this field to the  Iraqi side. We confirmed the readiness of both sides to deepen  interstate relations," the RA President said.

He also noted that in addition to the bilateral agenda, regional and  international issues of mutual interest were discussed during the  visit. "We emphasized the need to coordinate the efforts of the two  countries in the context of a dialogue on regional security,  processes taking place in the international arena, and the resulting  challenges. I presented to my counterpart the "Crossroads of the  Peace" concept put forward by Armenia, the goal of which is to turn  Armenia into a transit hub for existing and future communication  channels stretching from north to south and from west to east, which  involves restoring normal communications with all our neighbors. The  implementation of the initiative will ensure transit between the  Middle East and Asia, on the one hand, and the European and Eurasian  markets, on the other. Armenia is interested in unblocking regional  economic and transport connections, respecting state sovereignty,  jurisdiction and the principles of equality and reciprocity and is  ready to do it as soon as possible, which, in turn, will ensure  security and stability in the region," Khachaturyan said.

He said that during the meeting the importance of strengthening  cooperation in the fight against all manifestations of international  terrorism, as well as the implementation of joint efforts to combat  illegal migration, was emphasized. "Following the meeting, my partner  and I adopted a joint statement reflecting almost all the key aspects  of bilateral relations," the RA President concluded.