On December 9, Robert Harutyunyan, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, participated in the hearings on “The economic dimension of the foreign policy of Armenia” organized at the initiative of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the NA of Armenia, OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian Branch of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

During the hearings the participants discussed the opportunities for effective cooperation between MFA and other state institutions, public sector, business, diaspora and other interested structures, which are aimed at contributing within the context of the issues proposed and highlighted by the President of Armenia to the development of external economic relations, foreign economic activities of Armenia, activation of investment policy and expansion of markets.

Deputy Foreign Minister informed about the ongoing work towards development of the concept of economic diplomacy. He informed of the functions to be carried out by diplomatic representations of Armenia as well as the proposed cooperation system as envisaged within the draft concept.

Robert Harutyunyan also presented the results of the analysis done by the MFA of the expectations of the Armenian private sector with regard to assistance from the diplomatic representations of Armenia. Deputy Foreign Minister specifically highlighted the necessity of assessing the effectiveness of the work of the diplomatic representations of Armenia carried out within the framework of the implementation of the economic dimension of foreign policy.