On a working visit to the United States, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his spouse Anna Hakobyan attended an official reception hosted by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti at the Los Angeles City Hall.
The Prime Minister delivered a speech, in which he stated:
“Honorable Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis,
Honorable Mayor Garcetti and Council member Krekorian, our today’s hosts,
Honorable State Senators and Assembly members,
Honorable Supervisors Barger and Solis,
LA City Council members,
Your Eminencies and reverend clergy,
Excellences,
Elected and appointed officials,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to be here today. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Mayor of Los Angeles Mr. Garcetti for hosting this beautiful event and creating an opportunity for our communication. Mr. Garcetti, we highly appreciate your devotion and support to the Armenian community. Using this opportunity, I would also like to extend my profound appreciation to Council member Paul Krekorian, Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Hilda Solis for their valuable support in organization of the public event.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Governor of California Gavin Newsom, who was not able to attend this meeting and whom I will meet later in New York, for his friendship and commitment to advance the Armenia – California partnership. A framework agreement on cooperation between Armenia and California will be signed at that meeting.
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My sincere thanks to Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis for being with us today.
Armenia greatly values its relations with the United States, the Great State of California and the City of Los Angeles. This is one of the most unique places in the world where we have a great concentration of intellectual, cultural, religious and financial potentials of our compatriots. And this, in many ways, creates a powerful gravity within our 10 million strong diaspora worldwide.
I am happy today to see all the Armenian traditional parties and organizations present at this event. I am happy to see the thriving communities of all Armenian Christian denominations. I am happy to see here cultural, educational, financial and advocacy organizations. Los Angeles with its Armenian churches, monuments, schools, cultural and sport centers is a great example of fundamental integration of Armenians into the American society.
This is a very solid ground, a lasting asset in our relations with the United States of America, which is indeed mutually enriching and beneficial.
Today our strong bonds continue to be strengthened with cultural exchanges, joint business endeavors, enhancing our mutual trust, support and understanding.
Next year we will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Sister Cities agreement between Yerevan and Los Angeles, which will be marked by a number of initiatives that will boost cooperation between the two cities. We appreciate former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s and current Mayor Eric Garcetti’s leadership and efforts in fostering this cooperation and looking forward to exploring new opportunities for enhanced partnership.
During this visit we will take another step forward in making our friendship more practical and effective. Tomorrow we have a big California-Armenia Business Symposium followed by signing of two important agreements to further our trade and economic ties.
This is a good opportunity to express appreciation to the authorities of the State of California and the City of Los Angeles for their constant support for the projects that have showcased our country’s cultural and traditional highlights. It is a valuable contribution towards making Armenia more recognizable in this country and put it on American touristic maps. All those festivals, movie screenings, concerts and other performances set a tone for more active exchanges between Armenia and California, more intense people-to-people contacts.
I would also like to emphasize our gratitude to the authorities of the State of California and the city of Los Angeles for supporting the opening of the Armenian Genocide Monument in the very heart of this great city. It stands as the first memorial built on the state property land in Los Angeles devoted to the Armenian Genocide, and to the memory of the victims of all Genocides. It is also an expression of gratitude of our community to the United States, American people, the State of California and this lovely city.
We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the authorities of California. We look forward to enhancing our exchanges with the city of Los Angeles. We are keen to strengthen our friendship with the elected officials in California, many of whom are Armenia’s most devoted friends as members of the California Armenian Legislative Caucus, State Senate Select Committee on California, Armenia and Artsakh Mutual Trade, Art and Cultural Exchange, and, of course, the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.
We will move forward in our efforts to deepen Armenian-Californian cooperation and the City of Los Angeles will be the main focus for obvious reasons. I am sure that these relations will dynamically grow and advance, embracing new initiatives and joint endeavors.
Thank you all for being here today.”
Remarks were also delivered by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Council member Paul Krekoryan, RA Ambassador to the United States Varuzhan Nersesyan and RA Consul General in Los Angeles Armen Baiburdyan.
INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME-MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA