The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Botswana Ararart Mirzoyan and Lemogang Kwape, have signed a joint statement on establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.
During the official signing ceremony, Ararat Mirzoyan said: “I want to congratulate the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Botswana on the occasion of this important event. Indeed, we are opening a new chapter in our relations, if we approach the issue very formally, we are establishing those relations, at least the diplomatic part. And we hope that in the future, thanks to our work and based on the values that we share, we will develop our cooperation in various fields, from agriculture to science, education and of course also cooperation on international platforms.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Botswana Lemogang Kwape noted: “Your Excellency, I share the same hope. In addition to hope, I appreciate the shared past. But most importantly, we share the values of our democracy and we also share the values of development. Our meeting today is proof of that. Since we have signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between our two countries, I expect that we, as brothers and sisters, will stand by each other when it comes to the development of our countries. Both of our countries are landlocked, the two are small states both economically and by other standards. We have almost the same population, so I think this gives us an opportunity to become real partners and have a real partnership.”
At the meeting, the top diplomats of the two countries discussed, in particular, the possibilities of strengthening ties in the economic, high-tech, agricultural, educational and cultural spheres, emphasizing in this context the formation of the future legal and contractual framework.
Issues related to cooperation in international structures were on the agenda of the meeting.
Regional issues were also in the center of attention of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Botswana. Reference was made to projects aimed at the development of transport and economic interdependence, including the “Crossroads of Peace” concept developed by the Armenian government.
Source: Arm Radio
