The Secretary General's visit to the West Coast

13 December, 2018

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Melikyan was on a working visit to the West Coast of the United States. During the brief visit, the Secretary General had meetings with representatives of the Armenian community of California, religious leaders and the leaders of the political organizations. Along with the newly appointed Consul General Armen Baibourtian, Vahagn Melikyan had meetings with Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, and Pastor of the Union of Evangelical Churches of North America Berj Jambazian. In the warm atmosphere, issues related to the Armenian-American community were discussed during the meetings with the community leaders. Vahagn Melikyan noted that the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia pays special attention to the activities carried out on the west coast of the United States. The participants of the meetings have stressed the importance of consolidating the community, the role and significance of the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia in the strengthening of ties between the Armenian community and Armenia. The importance of exchanging professional experience in certain areas with the Armenian-American community was highlighted and the need to consolidate young people and engage them in Armenian projects. It was stressed that the Armenian-American community still has an untapped potential that can be utilized in case of coordination of efforts of the Consulate General of Armenia,community structures, and the Armenian Church.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the newly appointed Consul General of Armenia also had meetings with Nora Hovsepian, the Chairperson of the ANCA Western Region and Mihran Toumajan, Director of the Western Armenian Region of the Armenian Assembly of America. Vahagn Melikyan presented the recent developments in Armenia, the new realities in the country and the results of the positive changes. There were discussion on the efforts to intensify and strengthen the multilateral collaboration between the Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles and the Armenian community. They discussed also the ways of using the opportunities for the Armenian-American community in the near future as well as the necessity to deepen educational-cultural and trade-economic relations with the homeland. The participants of the meetings emphasized the importance of working closely together. During the discussion, the sides also underlined the importance of coordinated steps to enhance the development of Armenia-US bilateral relations, emphasizing the particular need to stimulate the economic component of bilateral relations.
The possibilities of expanding the Armenian-American economic ties were discussed during a business forum initiated by the Armenian-American Business Council with the assistance of the Consulate General of Armenia held in Glendale, attended by Vahagn Melikyan. The Secretary General of the MFA presented the atmosphere created after the “Velvet revolution” in Armenia, which had a positive impact on the business environment as well. Vahagn Melikyan emphasized the importance of involvement of every Armenian living abroad in the economic life of the homeland and realizing big or small business projects. "The nature and extent of these programs are not important, the important thing is your involvement," he emphasized. "Not only the Diaspora for Armenia, but also Armenia for the Diaspora. We must support our young generation, and together to maintain the positive realities we have acquired a few months ago and make them a basis for the future development of our homeland, "Vahagn Melikyan said in his talk.
California State Assembly member Adrin Nazarian, Los Angeles City Council member Paul Krekorian, and several dozen Armenian-American businessmen took part in the business forum.

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