Wednesday, 30 March 2005
Today the standing intergovernmental commission for cooperation between the governments of the Republic of Armenia and the NKR has met in a joint session co-chaired by RA Prime Minister A. Margaryan and NKR Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielyan and attended by members from the two Cabinets.
The commission discussed the draft program of action for the long-term cooperation between RA and NKR governments. The program had been developed in commission working groups and forwarded to line ministries and agencies for the design of relevant sub-programs based on program priorities. Prime Minister A. Margaryan noted that a considerable amount of work had been carried out during 2004 in terms of this reform- oriented program preparation under the management of the two co-chairmen of the commission, namely the RA Minister for Coordination of Territorial Administration and Industrial Infrastructure Operations and the NKR Deputy Prime Minister. According to the RA Prime Minister, no funds from Armenia's state budget would be used for program purposes with the latter to be financed through resources available from the NKR treasury. Mr. A. Margaryan indicated that the reforms in the NKR had to be implemented in harmony with the ones in Armenia. He stressed the need in the design of medium-term and long-term expenditure programs for the NKR, too, to make it possible for the annual budgets to be shaped along the lines drawn in these targeted programs so as the general expenditure pattern and priorities were clear-cut for a number of years ahead. Concurrent with Mr. A. Margaryan, NKR Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielyan said that as a result of the large amount of work carried out by the commission, all the ministries and public agencies concerned were prepared to proceed to the implementation of different program components.
The long-term cooperation program, which covers the systems of public administration and public welfare, the national economies of the two countries, the respective sectors of energy, education and science, health care, environmental protection, transport and communication, culture, sport and other fields, provides the list of the persons in charge, specifies the deadlines set and the financial sources identified.
Among the actions envisaged, support will be extended to the efforts aiming the introduction of civil service in the NKR and its prospective development, the design and implementation of NKR's sustained agricultural development strategy, natural resource management and poverty reduction projects, foreign investment-driven IT industry development priorities, the introduction of a unified system of academic scoring, the improvements of disease prevention and anti-epidemic programs, as well as the creation of the national system of social services. The bilateral cooperation will also be focused upon the preservation and rehabilitation of historical monuments, eventual arrangements for reciprocated tours and guest-performances by theatrical companies and sports teams, organizing joint symposia, workshops etc.
