On May 2, the works of first session of the Armenia-UAE Joint Intergovernmental Commission were launched  in Yerevan.

Vahagn Melikyan, the MFA Secretary General and the Co-Chairman of the Intergovernmental Commission from the Armenian side, delivered opening remarks at the session. Welcoming the UAE Co-Chairman Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh and other members of the Commission, the Secretary-General noted that the Intergovernmental Commissions represent a practical platform and provide good opportunities to outline possibilities for bilateral ties in various fields.

Touching upon the particular importance of the Middle East region in Armenia’s foreign policy, the MFA Secretary-General specifically underscored the traditionally cordial relations as well as effective and multifaceted cooperation established with the UAE since the independence of Armenia, adding that more than 20 documents are signed between the two countries, reciprocal visits, consultations, business meetings, expert visits and more than a dozen of flights per week attest to it.

Highlighting the importance of discussions to be held within the framework of the joint Intergovernmental Commission, the MFA Secretary General pointed out the existing potential of cooperation in the spheres of agriculture, environment, energy infrastructure, territorial administration, education, science, media and a number of other areas and underlined that Armenia will support the active engagement of the UAE capital in various sectors of the Armenian economy.

Attaching importance to the deepening of trade, economic and investment cooperation with the Gulf countries, Vahagn Melikyan noted that Armenia considers the United Arab Emirates as the most important bridge between Armenia and the Gulf countries, at the same time offering his counterpart to view Armenia as a favorable platform for the UAE in terms of access to markets of the CIS and especially of the EAEU countries.

Welcoming Vahagn Melikyan, the Chairman of the joint Intergovernmental Commission and the members of the Armenian delegation, State Minister Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh thanked for warm reception and high level organization of the session.

Underlining the specific pattern of bilateral relations of the past 21 years, the Minister of State highlighted the importance of signing the most important economic agreements in the spheres of tourism, investment and trade turnover. In this context, the visit of the President of Armenia to Abu Dhabi in January 2019 and the visit of the UAE Foreign Minister to Armenia in July 2017 were highlighted.

Reiterating the strategic importance of bilateral economic relations, the State Minister emphasized that the UAE is the 8th largest market for exporting Armenian goods and the 11th source of Armenian imports worldwide.

At the end of the opening session the sides wished the delegations fruitful and productive discussions and expressed confidence that the agreements to be reached in the results of the Intergovernmental Commission's activities and the documents to be signed would become a solid contribution to the further strengthening of the Armenia-UAE relations.