Your trusted source

The official visit by President Sargsyan to Georgia was held in a constructive and positive atmosphere, expert in Georgia John Melikyan told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. He stressed there are certain prerequisites for the visit to be a breakthrough, yet much depends on further steps of the Georgian side.

Melikyan pointed to the representative delegation that accompanied the president and the closed-format meetings with Georgia’s leadership that addressed virtually all aspects of interstate relations. The expert drew a special attention to the economy and security issues. addressed during the talks in Tbilisi. 

In his words., 24% growth recorded in Armenia-Georgia trade turnover in 2017 with the
the increase of Armenian exports to Georgia and decrease in Georgian import to Armenia.

The speaker reminded of the statistics suggesting the outgoing year marked a 7-million record number of tourists visiting the country with 1,5 million Armenians among them who preferred the neighboring country as a holiday destination. In Melikyan’s conviction, the year 2018 can reinvigorate the Armenian-Georgian relations with a new impetus and approaches.

Speaking of the issues related to Javakhq (predominantly Armenian populated Javakheti region of Georgia), namely the poor road conditions, language and infrastructure, the expert noted that no disagreements are observed in interstate relations with only matters requiring solution. In his words, issues of unemployment and roads are actual for other regions of Georgia, while Armenia could ask the Georgian authorities to pay more interest to Javakhq problems that certainly remain within the scope of Georgian internal issues. Armenia could only assist with textbooks and other needs.

Melikyan next said that Armenia is valuable for Georgia as a member state to the EAEU, given Georgia’s interests in the Eurasian market as a primary trade destination.