On March 29-31, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, minister of state attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will be visiting Yerevan, where he will be hosted by President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
This visit takes place at a time when Armenia is preparing to host the 17th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, on October 11-12. The minister will applaud the commitment of the Armenian authorities to the values of La Francophonie and will discuss summit preparations with his interlocutors.
Mr. Lemoyne will assure the Armenian authorities of France’s commitment, as co-chair of the Minsk Group, to reaching a negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He will assure them of our support for the process of rapprochement between Armenia and the EU in the framework of the partnership agreement signed November 24, 2017.
During his visit, Mr. Lemoyne will also work on strengthening our cooperation with Armenia. Our bilateral relationship is rich and rooted in history. The political dialogue between our two countries is very dense, as reflected by President Serge Sargsyan’s visit to Paris on January 23.
France is a leading investor in Armenia, especially in agrifoods, water, and banking services. Mr. Lemoyne will discuss with his interlocutors the means of developing this potential and expanding trade between our two countries, which reached nearly €50 million in 2017. He will also visit the French school, the Alliance française, and the French university in Armenia, which has educated several thousand Armenian students over the past 20 years.
