PRESS RELEASE September 30, 2005
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: armecon@speakeasy.net ; Web: www.armeniaemb.org
High-Level Armenian Government Delegation Visits Washington
A high-level Armenian Government delegation visited Washington, D.C. on September 24-28 in order to participate in bilateral economic discussions with U.S. government counterparts and in the annual Governor's Meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Armenian delegation included Minister of Finance & Economy Vardan Khachatrian, Chief Economic Adviser to the President Vahram Nercissiantz, Trade and Economic Development Minister Karen Tchshmaritian, Agriculture Minister Davit Lokian, Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sargsian, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian, Ambassador Tatoul Markarian, and officials from the Ministries of Finance and Economy and Foreign Affairs.
During the World Bank and IMF annual meetings, the Armenian delegation had meetings with World Bank Executive Director Ad Melkert, Country Director for Armenia Donna Dowsett-Coirolo, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF Augustin Carstens, and IMF Executive Director Jeroen Kremers.
On September 27, the Armenia n del egation visited the headquarters of the Millennium Challenge Corporation to discuss the evaluation phase of Armenia 's MCA draft program with MCC leadership. Expressing satisfaction with the level of political and technical cooperation between MCC and the Armenia n Government officials, both sides agreed to continue to work together toward finalization and preparation of the MCA compact.
The eleventh session of the U.S.-Armenia intergovernmental task force on economic cooperation (USATF) convened on September 26. The USATF is co-chaired by Minister Vardan Khachatrian and Ambassador Thomas Adams, Coordinator of Assistance Programs in Eurasia at the State Department. The agenda for the USATF meeting included issues such as Armenia's economic growth and democratic reforms, the current status of the Millenium Challenge Account programs' process in Armenia, economic policy and prospects for long-term development, promoting investments and further improving Armenia's business environment, WTO standards enforcement and trade issues, legal reforms, as well as bilateral cooperation in the area of education and science, energy, and agriculture.
In addition, the Armenia n delegation met with heads of foreign del egations at the World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting, including Finance Minister of The Netherlands Gerrit Zalm and Iran ian Finance Minister Daud Davash Jafari.
n September 26, the Embassy of Armenia hosted a reception in honor of the Armenian delegation, with participation of officials from U.S. Government, including the State Department, Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, and Agriculture, US Agency for International Development, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, as well as representatives of the Armenian-American organizations.
