YEREVAN—Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian men Tuesday with the Vice President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wencai Zhang, the President’s press office reported.
The President praised the ADB’s cooperation with Armenia and its activities aimed at developing Armenia’s infrastructure and ensuring steady economic growth. Serzh Sarkisian thanked the bank for supporting Armenia for many years and said that Wencai Zhang’s visit bore witness to the firm relationship between Armenia and the ADB.
Wencai Zhang expressed satisfaction with the fact that the bank has been collaborating with Armenia since 2005 and underscored that the ADB was working on the Country Partnership Strategy for Armenia for the upcoming 5 years and was ready to support the development of priority spheres in Armenia, including infrastructure (transport, energy, road construction, urban development, water supply), as well as state-private sector cooperation, local technical assistance capacity building, promotion of regional collaboration, encouragement of investments, export stimulation and development of an innovative and knowledge-based economy. Noting that it was his first visit to Armenia, Wencai Zhang underlined that he was impressed with Armenia, a country with great development potential. He also expressed the bank’s readiness to organize an investment forum in Armenia which will give Armenia’s economy the opportunity to attract new foreign investments and will stimulate realization of primary projects.
At the meeting the parties attached great importance to the works of the North-South Road Corridor and exchanged views on Armenia’s economic development opportunities following its accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. Wencai Zhang congratulated President Sarkisian on Armenia’s accession to the treaty and expressed the opinion that it can provide ample opportunities for the development of Armenia’s economy.
Welcoming the guest, Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian praised the cooperation with ADB toward ensuring Armenia’s economic development and institutional reform process. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of continued implementation of joint programs for infrastructure development, including transport nodes, maintenance and construction of roads, water supply and drainage systems modernization programs and joint continuity.
The ADB Vice President rated as effective the interaction dating back to as early as 2005, noting that the Bank is working over the Armenia Partnership Strategy for the next five years. Zhang welcomed the reforms implemented by the Government in various areas and especially hailed the progress in improving the business environment and boosting entrepreneurship in Armenia.
The parties expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project in different fields. As they talked about the details of the North-South Road Corridor construction project, the interlocutors stressed the need to carry out construction works in quality and timely manner. Then the Prime Minister and ADB Vice President referred to the areas for expanding cooperation.
Abrahamian, among several other projects, prioritized the inclusion in next five-year Armenia Partnership Strategy projects concerning rural communities, information technology, SME, as well as female entrepreneurship development programs. Both sides stressed the importance of promoting regional cooperation programs.
On behalf of the ADB, Wencai Zhang expressed readiness to continue to support both the ongoing programs and the Government’s priorities for economic development, public-private sector cooperation, promoting the development of a knowledge-based economy, providing technical assistance, capacity building, and more.
The Prime Minister stressed that mindful of expanding the ongoing cooperation with the Bank, his government will keep in focus the implementation of joint programs and the agreements reached.
