Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan on Thursday chaired the inaugural session of the interstate commission on the preparation and holding of the 17th summit of the heads of states and governments of La Francophonie.
At the meeting, Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian noted that in 2018 Armenia will host the Francophonie summit, assuming the two-year chairmanship of this large organization, which has 84 members, as well as associate members and observers. According to him, Armenia will hold such a high-level international event for the first time. Around five dozens of heads of states and governments are expected to take part in the summit, which will also be attended by the delegations of 31 partner organizations of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).
Over hundred delegations are expected to arrive in the country, the overall number of the guests amounting to up to 4000.
Three days before the two-day summit, the conference of foreign ministers will take place, which will also be preceded by the permanent council session.
The summit will address such issues as sustainable development, informational technologies, cultural diversity, youth issues, etc. The event will give an opportunity to organize an economic business forum with the wide involvement of the companies of Francophonie states and enterprises. Within its framework it was proposed to hold an exhibition of Armenian production and services through which the investment and trade and economic opportunities, as well as the country’s tourist attractiveness will be presented.
PM Karapetyan, for his part, underscored the importance of organizing such a large-scale and high-level event in Armenia.“It is an interesting event and an interesting platform. Capitalizing on this opportunity, we can present Armenia very well and make our country more recognizable,” he noted.
The PM thus instructed the heads of the agencies concerned to appoint specific responsible persons for getting involved in the working group set up by the Armenian MFA.
