On December 15, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Karen Karapetyan, who is on a visit to the Republic of Artsakh, had a meeting with President of the Republic of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan.

Greeting the delegation of the Republic of Armenia, President Bako Sahakyan emphasized that the economic cooperation with Armenia is at a high level and considered the cooperation one of the major foundations for the development and reinforcement of the Republic of Artsakh. The President of the Republic of Artsakh stated that Artsakh saw rather high economic indicators this year and highlighted the fact that the Government of Armenia had also helped make those achievements. Sahakyan also provided information about several pretentious programs that will be carried out in 2018.

At the request of President Sahakyan, Karen Karapetyan provided details about the operation of the Meghri Free Economic Zone launched on December 15. Stating that several agreements on the operation of the Free Economic Zone have already been signed, Armenia’s Prime Minister emphasized that this is an extremely major step that will have a multiplicative effect. “This year we will also have certain figures that evidence the positive trend. Of course, this doesn’t mean that there is not a lot of work to do, but we have a clear notion of how we have to enhance our economy,” the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia said. Talking about the economic cooperation with Iran, Karen Karapetyan stated that even though Armenia recorded a 9% growth of trade turnover this year, the figures are far from the real potential.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of Artsakh discussed a broad range of issues related to energy, healthcare, territorial administration, agriculture and several other sectors, attaching importance to the exchange of experience and closer partnership of the relevant government agencies in that context.

The interlocutors also discussed security issues, particularly issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.