Environment Minister Hakob Simidyan received the delegation led by Victor Richter, Ambassador Extraordinary, and Plenipotentiary of Germany, to Armenia. The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister Aram Meimaryan, the Armenian representative of the Rehabilitation Loans Bank (KfW) Zara Chatinyan, and Alla Berberyan, the team leader of the “ECOserve” project jointly implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) with partner ministries.
Welcoming the colleagues in the Ministry of Environment, the minister stated once again that the Federal Republic of Germany is the best partner of the Republic of Armenia in terms of support for the development of the sector. With the help of the German government, many projects are being implemented in the field of environment, aimed at the development and establishment of the industry, with a rich agenda and target priorities.
“The Republic of Armenia is proceeding on the path of establishing democracy, and the institutionalization of state departments is among the priorities of the Government. In this context, reforms are underway in the Ministry of Environment. In terms of institutionalization of the ministry, steps are being taken in all directions. We expect the support of the German government in this agenda as well,” the minister noted and presented the ongoing works in more detail.
The minister mainly referred to the critical process of developing strategies in the field of the environment and expected active support and participation from partners during their development and implementation.
Expressing gratitude for the reception, the ambassador noted that environmental protection is not only one of the priorities of Germany’s internal policy but also one of the most critical components of international relations and foreign policy.
At the meeting, reference was made to the most extensive grant program, “Biodiversity and sustainable local development in Armenia,” the total budget of which currently amounts to 26 million euros, “Protected Areas Support Program-Armenia,” “EU4Sevan” for environmental protection of Lake Sevan, “Science for Lake Sevan” creation of management tools based” (SEVAMOD1) to the Armenian-German scientific research programs.
Deputy Minister Aram Meimaryan presented the current situation. He planned works for each project and referred to the grant funds provided by the Caucasus Nature Fund for more than ten years, aimed at supporting the protection of nature-protected areas of the Republic of Armenia, implemented by the “World Wide Fund for Nature” (WWF). “Support for the creation of ecological corridors” regional program. The deputy minister also highlighted the importance of cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany and recorded positive progress within various programs.
Reference was also made to the presentation of the environmental agenda during the expected high-level intergovernmental negotiations. The parties have appointed responsible persons who will work in that direction. At the end of the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their readiness to ensure further mutually beneficial and comprehensive cooperation in all the priority directions within the framework of Armenian-German cooperation.
