La Francophonie summit in Armenia to feature also economic forum

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. The 17th summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie that will take place in Armenia on October 11-12 this year will feature also an economic forum, Armenia’s foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said today.

Speaking at a meeting of a commission on political affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie hosted by Armenian parliament today Nalbandian said it is very important for Armenia to establish links between enterprises in francophone countries and specialized, institutional networks in terms of strengthening economic ties and improving the business environment.

Armenia will be chairing the organization for two years, he said. The Yerevan’s summit motto is Living Together.

"The concept of  living together is very familiar to the Armenian people. The Armenian Diaspora, living in more than 100 countries  was able to fully integrate into the host society by preserving their national identity and stressing the importance of the ability to live together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and peace,’  said Nalbandian.

The International Organization of La Francophonie was created in 1970. Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 84 member states and governments (58 members and 26 observers), which together represent over one-third of the United Nations’ member states and account for a population of over 900 million people, including 274 million French speakers. -0-