Sargsyan and Sarkozy attend concert
On the evening of September 28, Serzh Sargsyan and French President Nikola Sarkozy attended world renowned French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour's concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence at Olympia Concert Hall in Paris.
Within the framework of the official visit, Serzh Sargsyan today had a working breakfast with Armenian and French businessmen.
Serzh Sargsyan's speech during the meeting with Armenia and French businessmen:
Dear businessmen,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I express my warm greetings and gratitude to you for holding this important meeting.
The centuries-old Armenian-French friendship is hinged on the spiritual and cultural commonalities existing between our nations.
Our economic partnership also has deep roots tracing back to history. French geologist Jean Morgan was the first to investigate mines in the region called Alaverdi in Armenia in the 19th century and to create the map of mining investigation in that region.
Since then, industry was laid on the foundations of copper mixing in Armenia. Today, copper and molybdenum production forms a major part of Armenia's economy. The French were also engineers of the railway created in Armenia and they were of great help to Armenia. Armenians have also made their contributions to the development of French economy. Today, there is a monument to 18th century Armenian farmer Jean Alten in central Avignon.
Hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen of Armenian origin continue to make contributions to the advancement of France and Armenia and strengthen the relations between both countries.
France has also played an invaluable role in Armenia's advancement. Armenia has always placed importance on the deepening of trade-economic ties with France, and today's meeting has been convened to contribute to those ties. France is Armenia's partner in trade and large investments and is in second place on the list of investors in Armenia's economy. There are 155 Armenian-French joint enterprises registered in Armenia.
France has made successful investments in almost all spheres, including telecommunication, alcohol production, banking, pharmaceutics, medicine, tourism, agriculture and light industry.
Despite the achievements, there is still a lot of potential and perspectives. For instance, the activation of trade relations and the fact that France is not in the top ten partners in Armenia's trade and economy are not good for the level of our relations.
We are implementing huge projects, including the construction of the North-South highway and railway, the new block of the atomic energy station and are waiting for our French partners' active participation in those spheres. These are large-scale projects costing billions, and we would like to see the active participation of French companies, especially since French companies have enough experience in those spheres.
Recently I was pleased to be informed that Alstom and Areva are interested in carrying out activities in Armenia's spheres of transport infrastructures and energy. Armenia welcomes such examples and they will be in our focus.
I think we will still have occasions to speak in detail about the economic reforms taking place in Armenia, but I would like to underline that Armenia's macroeconomic state is stable, and this is not just the evaluation given by Armenia, but also by reputable international organizations.
The launch of the Eastern Partnership Plan has moved Armenia-EU relations to a new qualitative level. This creates serious opportunities for the cooperation between Armenian and French businessmen as well. First, we will hold talks on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade zone through which we will have a system of integrated and liberalized economic ties with the EU.
Secondly, we will sign an agreement on the liberalization of the visa regime, which will especially contribute to contacts between medium businesses. Thirdly, with the financial, technical support and expertise of European organizations, we have undertaken serious reforms in taxing, customs and the court system, which will only facilitate our opportunities to work.
We call on our French partners to establish active partnership with Armenian businessmen. Without underestimating the significance of business interests, there is no doubt that business must come first, but with that you will also make your significant contributions to the proportional development of our region, that is, the assurance of security and the creation of a peaceful and sustainable zone next to the European Union.
Finally, you will have your last word in the continuous advancement of Armenian-French friendly ties because it is known that if there are no economic grounds in relations, those relations will decline sooner or later, and we want those relations to continue to develop.
Thank you for your attention.
