The 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is important for Armenia not only from an environmental, but also from a political, economic and security perspective.
RA Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan said this in a conversation with Armenpress, speaking about the opportunities offered by the conference and the prospects for expanding international cooperation.
According to him, the holding of an international event of this scale in Armenia provides an opportunity to strengthen the country’s ties with international partners, to raise Armenia’s recognition and to emphasize the importance of the country’s involvement in international processes.
“Security comes first. It is obvious that this event also has a political component. The presence of so many people, so many countries and so many participants in the Republic of Armenia is an important event. For Armenia’s economic development and for being part of the world, this is one of the most important factors. It is impossible not to notice the positive aspects of all this,” Simonyan noted.
According to him, such international platforms provide an opportunity for Armenia to establish new ties, to have direct contacts with representatives of different countries and to shape further directions of cooperation. At the same time, the holding of such events contributes to increasing international interest in the country and to expanding Armenia’s involvement in global processes.
Addressing the question of what new opportunities may open for Armenia in the coming two years, Simonyan noted that those opportunities are already being created, given that the conference is being held in Armenia.
“Those opportunities are already opened by the fact that COP17 is being held in the Republic of Armenia. If there were no opportunity to hold this event in the Republic of Armenia, COP17 would not be here today,” he said.
According to the Security Council secretary, it is important that the ties created within the framework of the conference and the opportunities for cooperation be preserved also after the end of the event. The coming two years can be important for Armenia from the perspective of continuing the dialogue with international partners and developing the ties formed.
