The Armenian-French Decentralized Fourth Partnership Forum will take place in the fall of 2019 in Lyon, France. Its aim will be to discuss improving relations between the communities of both countries. The First Deputy Mayor of Lyon, Georges Kepenekian, announced this to reporters during his official visit to the French embassy in Armenia.
He spent time working on preliminary activities for the forum during meetings with Armenian leadership. “There have been changes over the past year. There truly was a revolution in Armenia in its elections and political condition. France also went through revolutionary changes recently, so it is important for us to review our partnership goals,” Georges Kepenekian said.
He noted that, in order for France and Armenia to continue improving their relations, one or two meetings per year is no longer sufficient. It is also important to promote ties with the Armenian diaspora in France. “The conference will be about partnership programs and initiatives between cities in Armenia and France. We would also like for there to be ties between offices such as the Ministries of Health or Information Technologies. Having such approaches will open new doors for our partnership.”
Georges Kepenekian also said that 26 cities in France already have sister cities in Armenia and their development has been promoted over the past few decades through bilateral agreements. Lyon has a three-year partnership agreement with Yerevan.
Luiza Sukiasyan
