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On November 27, in Paryur Sevak Conference Hall of Yerevan Hrazdan Hotel the 52nd Plenary Meeting of the PABSEC General Assembly moderated by the RA NA President Ara Babloyan began its work.

The parliamentary delegations from Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Serbia representatives of the international organisations and observers who arrived from different countries took part in the Meeting.

The RA NA President, PABSEC President Ara Babloyan gave opening speech. See the speech here .

The RA Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimyan presented the address by the RA Acting Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, where it says that Armenia continues remaining committed to the goals declared by the organisation. “In its foreign policy our country has reaffirmed the principles of good neighbourly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation. In this respect Armenia is ready to fully use the potential of the BSEC and its structures for boosting the trade-economic cooperation in the region and advancing the effective implementation of procedure goals of the organisation,” the address reads.

According to the Secretary General of the Assembly Asaf Hajiyev, the quarter-century multilateral cooperation in the region has accumulated effective experience of cooperation in different spheres. To the speaker’s conviction, the organisation should be modern, improved and more flexible in the context of regional global challenges.

At the Meeting Ara Babloyan awarded the PABSEC Medal of Honor the heads of a number of delegations.

On the basis of the decision made during the Presidency of Albania in the Assembly the PABSEC President, the RA NA President Ara Babloyan also was awarded the PABSEC Medal of Honor.

Procedure items were debated in the first sitting of the Assembly. After the approval of the mandates of the new delegates, the minutes of the PABSEC 51st Plenary Session held in Tirana on 20-21 June2018 and the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly the item of the activities of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organisation was discussed, which presented the Deputy Secretary General of the BSEC Sergei Goncharenko. He touched upon the sittings of the working groups held in the last decade and works done.

The President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) Dmitry Pankin presented the activities of the Bank and talked about the coming programmes.

In the sitting the Head of the Turkish Delegation to the Assembly Cemal Öztürk was elected PABSEC Vice-President in charge of Financial Matters, the Romanian Daniel Dulca – PABSEC Secretary General in charge of Administrative and Financial Matters, Fuat Kucukaydin - the PABSEC in charge of Inter-parliamentary Relations and Protocol.

The representatives of the Parliamentary Assemblies and the International Organisations exchanged thoughts on regional issues and challenges.

The item “The Role of Parliaments in the Development of Regional Economic Cooperation” was on the agenda of the sitting, on which the Head of the RA NA Delegation Gagik Minasyan has touched upon the blockade of Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan, stressing that it contradicts the principles of the structure, which are called to promote the economic development. Gagik Minasyan has noted that the blockade eliminates any opportunity of cooperation. According to him, the economic cooperation is directed not only to the peoples’ welfare, but also as the international experience shows that it is an effective way of the solution of the “wrinkled” items.

According to the speaker, the organisation has a strictly underlined economic direction, by which it differs from other Parliamentary Assemblies. Gagik Minasyan considered unacceptable the efforts of giving political direction to the structure, underscoring that in such case the problems existing in the region can make impossible the implementation of the goals. He has noted that for a long time some countries have pursued a goal to give political direction to the Assembly, and Armenia and other countries try to prevent that process.

Representatives of other countries’ delegations also delivered speeches on the theme. First of all, they thanked the RA NA President Ara Babloyan for hosting the General Assembly and for warm reception. It has been noted that the Parliamentary Assembly of Economic Cooperation is a convenient platform for creating necessary opportunities if developing the member states’ international and regional cooperation. It has been highlighted that the constructive role in the development of the parliamentary diplomacy as an effective means of expanding of economic cooperation and a strengthening factor of the atmosphere of peace and mutual understanding in the Black Sea Region.

At the sitting the Budget for the Financial Year 2019 was debated and adopted, and the Draft Budget of the Auditing Commission was set up.

Within the framework of the issues on the economic, commercial, technological and environmental affairs the problems of the development and support of the Small Business Enterprises/SME in the BSEC Member States were referred to. The representatives of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine presented the situation in their countries in these spheres and proposed to make large-scale study in Member States.

They emphasized the exchange of experience, which would give new impetus to the further cooperation. According to the delegates, the development of the SME, in its turn, would seriously promote the economic recovery.

Within the framework of the legal and political issues the theme on the role of the trade unions in the strengthening of the economic cooperation. The delegates representing Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia and Armenia touched upon the role of the trade unions in the working relations.

The representatives of Romania, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine talked about the perspectives of the tourism in the BSEC Region, underlining the necessity of the investment of modern technologies in the sphere.

The work of the sitting will continue on November 28.