Dear Mr President,

Dear Mme Secretary General,
Dear Mr Secretary of State,
Dear Colleagues,

First of all, I would like to reiterate, that it is a great honour for Armenia to be entrusted by the heads of the states and governments of the Organization to host the XVII Summit of La Francophonie. We perceive this decision as an evidence of great appreciation of Armenia's commitment within La Francophonie.

Armenia has mobilized its all capabilities, in order to ensure the success of the Summit.

By the Decree of the President of the Republic, an Interagency Commission, headed by the Prime Minister of Armenia, was created for coordination of preparations for the Summit.

A special Organizational Committee under my supervision has been established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. It is already operating in close co-operation with the Organizational Committee created by the Secretariat of the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Regarding the dates of the Summit, taking into account the calendar of international events, we propose October 11-12, 2018 for holding the Summit in Yerevan, and the following dates for the OIF statutory bodies: October 7 for the Permanent Council of La Francophonie, October 8-9 for the sessions of the Francophonie Ministerial Conference.

In continuation of 2015 Yerevan Ministerial Conference, the pomegranate, which is considered symbolic in the Armenian culture, has been selected as a symbol (logo) of the XVII Summit.

We attach special importance to ensuring the visibility of the Summit.

We would like to continue the Madagascar Summit initiative and encourage the participation of youth in the meetings of statutory bodies of La Francophonie to be held in Yerevan.

We would like for this high-level meeting to become a major unifying event through cultural programmes, among memorable events of which will be the gala concert with the participation of prominent francophone singers scheduled for October 11, at the end of the first day of the Summit before the state dinner.

We also plan to organize the Village of La Francophonie, where the countries of the International Organization of La Francophonie will present in their pavilions the cultural diversity, crafts and art of their people.

The "Francophonie Village" will be located in the center of Yerevan, in the heart of Yerevan, where the celebrations of the 2800-th anniversary of the city will take place before the Summit.

Dear Mr President,
Dear Mme Secretary General,
Dear Colleagues,

With regards the general theme of the Summit, we suggest the "Living Together". "Living together in solidarity, sharing humanistic values ​​and respecting diversity as a source for peace and prosperity in the francophone area." We are convinced that it can contribute to the further strengthening of unity of our societies.

We also expect to work towards elaborating a new fundamental document of La Francophonie, "Living Together" pact, where we can enshrine in a comprehensive manner the principles and values ​​of "Living Together" - human rights, democracy, cooperation, education, digital economy, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, fight against radicalization and violent extremism leading to terrorism, xenophobia, hate speech, intolerance and discrimination. In this regard, we would like for the Youth Network of La Francophonie to join this process and bring its contribution to this document.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Among the important events within the framework of the Summit, we intend to organize an Economic Forum of La Francophonie. Our goal is to encourage business contacts, to hold discussions on the development challenges and perspectives in accordance with the Economic Strategy of La Francophonie.

We attach great importance to the strengthening of institutional and professional contacts of entrepreneurs and we hope that in Yerevan it will be possible to create a bases for launching francophone business network.

Dear Colleagues,

The Summit will provide an opportunity to address regional and international challenges. Other key topics are also envisaged in the agenda, such as sustainable development, cultural diversity, the role of youth, digital Francophonie, equality of men and women, fight against climate change, and so on.

Dear Colleagues,

I suggest you to watch a short film about the preparations for the Yerevan Summit that will give you a general idea about Armenia - the country hosting the XVII Summit of La Francophonie, as well as about the conditions in which the Summit will be held, the venue, infrastructure and other practical issues.

Dear Colleagues,

We expect to work together with everyone to ensure the success of Yerevan Summit, since a successful conduct of the Summit will be our joint success, the collective success of our francophone family.

Thank you.