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On December 4, the Head of the RA NA Armenia-Sweden Parliamentary Friendship Group Hripsime Grigoryan and the Chief of Staff, Secretary General of the Parliament Staff Tigran Galstyan met with the delegation led by Johannes Ojelund, Director General for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden.

Welcoming the members of the delegation in the parliament, Hripsime Grigoryan has noted that Sweden is an important partner on the path of democratic reforms in Armenia. The MP especially highlighted the cooperation in bilateral format with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) since June of this year. Underlining the importance of the three main areas of the programme: environmental protection, economic integration and democratic reforms, Hripsime Grigoryan noted that the members of Armenia-Sweden Friendship Group and other MPs would also be involved in the issues related to the roadmap activity legislation currently under development.

Touching upon the New Armenia: Modern Parliament programme, Hripsime Grigoryan spoke about its components: the research capacity building of the National Assembly, the women's empowerment and the post-legislative oversight and highlighted the ongoing needs assessment process at this stage.

The RA NA Chief of Staff- Secretary General Tigran Galstyan noted that New Armenia: Modern Parliament programme would promote the parliamentary oversight, work with voters, communication with them, strengthening of research and analytical capacities of the NA Staff and Committees. Tigran Galstyan has attached importance to the necessity of having an Expert Analytical Centre with modern equipment in the parliament, as well as an electronic library, noting that practical steps are already being taken in that direction.

During the meeting the readiness to carry out the predetermined joint programmes and to continue the cooperation was reaffirmed.