PRESS RELEASE                                                      
October 24, 2007

Armenian Government Delegation Visits Washington
for the USATF Session, World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting

A high-level Armenian Government delegation visited Washington, D.C. on October 19-24 for bilateral discussions with U.S. government officials within the framework of U.S.-Armenia intergovernmental task force on economic cooperation (USATF) and to take part in the Annual 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, Agriculture Minister Davit Lokian, Trade and Economic Development Minister Nerses Yeritsian, 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.

In addition to multilateral discussions, individual members of the Armenian delegation had meetings in the World Bank and the IMF, U.S. Department of Commerce and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The USATF session, co-chaired by Minister Vardan Khachatrian and Ambassador Thomas Adams, Coordinator of Assistance Programs in Eurasia at the State Department, convened on October 23. Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, as part of his working visit in Washington, presided over the opening session and delivered welcoming remarks. The agenda for the USATF meeting included issues such as sustaining Armenia’s economic growth and democratic reforms, the implementation states of the MCA compact, prospects for long-term growth and development, promoting investments, legal reforms, as well as bilateral cooperation in the area of education and science, energy, and agriculture. During the session of USATF, the United States and Armenia signed Agreement on Civil Aviation, which will allow U.S. and Armenian air carriers to implement direct flights between the two countries.