Minister of Environment Hakob Simidyan met the delegation headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Armenia Viktor Richter
The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister Aram Meymaryan, representative of the Credit Recovery Bank (KfW) in Armenia Zara Chatinyan and the head of the "ECOserve" program group implemented by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) jointly with partner ministries Alla Berberyan.
Welcoming his colleagues at the Ministry of Environment, the Minister once again stated that in terms of promoting sectoral development, the Federal Republic of Germany is the best partner of the Republic of Armenia. At the suggestion of the German Government, numerous programs are being implemented in the field of the environment aimed at the development and establishment of the sphere, with a rich agenda and targeted priorities.
"The Republic of Armenia is on the path of becoming a democracy, and among the priorities of democracy is the institutional formation of state departments. In this context, reforms are also being carried out in the Ministry of the Environment. in terms of the institutional formation of the Ministry, steps are being taken in all directions. We also expect the support of the German government in this agenda," the minister said and presented the ongoing work in more detail.
The Minister, in particular, touched upon the important process of developing environmental strategies and asked partners to provide effective assistance and participation both in their development and implementation.
Thanking for the reception, the Ambassador noted that environmental protection is not only one of the priorities of Germany's domestic policy, but also an essential component of international relations and foreign policy.
The meeting touched upon the largest grant program "biodiversity and sustainable local development in Armenia", the total budget of which currently amounts to 26 million euros, the Armenian-German research programs "Program for the Support of Protected Areas-Armenia", "EU4Sevan" for the protection of the environment of Lake Sevan, "creation of scientifically based management tools for Lake Sevan" (SEVAMOD1).
Deputy Minister Aram Meymaryan presented the current situation and the planned work on each program, and also touched upon the grant funds provided by the Caucasus Nature Foundation for more than 10 years aimed at promoting the conservation of protected natural territories of the Republic of Armenia, The regional program "Promoting the Creation of Ecological Corridors", implemented by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Deputy Minister also noted the importance of cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany and recorded positive progress in various programs.
The issues of presenting the environment agenda at the upcoming high-level intergovernmental negotiations were also touched upon. the parties have appointed responsible persons who will work in this direction. At the end of the meeting, the sides confirmed their readiness to ensure further mutually beneficial and comprehensive cooperation in all priority areas within the framework of the Armenian-German cooperation.