President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, on a working visit to Tokyo, met with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan’s Prime Minister welcomed President Sarkissian’s participation in the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito and his first visit to Japan in his capacity as President of the Republic of Armenia. He said that Armenia is an important partner for Japan, and that they are interested in developing cooperation. “Armenia has a rich history, culture and traditions. Building on these, you are focusing on new technologies and innovations, looking to the future,” Prime Minister Abe noted.
Expressing gratitude for the invitation to take part in the historic event of the Emperor’s enthronement, President Sarkissian said, “Although we are geographically quite distant from each other, we are close in our values, our culture and our history. We are both ancient peoples who have many similarities in various respects. We must look forward. The future presupposes cooperation. I am confident that we can do a great deal together.” He considered the fields of innovation, information technologies, artificial intelligence, mathematical modelling and big data management to be promising for interaction.
In this context, he presented one of the presidential initiatives — the ATOM (Advanced Tomorrow) programme aimed at the development of technologies and science in Armenia. “We would be glad to see Japanese companies in our country as well within the framework of this programme,” the President emphasised.
Noting that after the devastating earthquake of 1988, Japan was among the first to extend a helping hand to Armenia, President Sarkissian said in particular, “Armenia highly appreciates Japan’s assistance to our country in the management of emergency situations, the fight against natural disasters and the prevention of natural calamities.”
Noting that the two countries have signed an agreement on the liberalisation, encouragement and protection of investments, which creates effective opportunities, President Sarkissian said that Armenia, as a member of the EAEU and with an established banking system, can be considered a trade platform. He also considered the field of food security to be promising in terms of cooperation.
Japan’s Prime Minister said that the two countries need to get to know each other better and discover each other’s opportunities. He stressed the importance of informing Japanese companies about the potential and opportunities of cooperation with Armenia.
To that end, he considered the holding of a joint business forum important.
The President of Armenia, on his own behalf and on behalf of the government, invited Japan’s Prime Minister to Armenia.
