On December 12 the 29th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Member States took place in Yerevan under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian. During the meeting delegations from 12 Member States, 9 observers and representatives from partner countries, BSEC structural organizations and international organizations took part.

The agenda of the Meeting included questions concerning the deepening of economic cooperation between the countries of Black Sea region, increasing the efficiency of the Organization, enhancing and widening the collaboration between the Member-States in bilateral and multilateral formats, triggering cooperation of the BSEC Organization with the EU and international organizations.

Opening the Meeting Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian summarized the results of the six-month Armenian Chairmanship-in-Office in the BSEC. Minister Nalbandian expressed hope that the Meeting will give a wider opportunity for activating the cooperation between the Member-States, enhancing regional and international multilateral economic cooperation and undertaking practical steps towards the raising of the efficiency of BSEC activities.

The Foreign Minister noted that during the Armenian Chairmanship of BSEC around 70 events were held including ministerial meetings, conferences, seminars and sessions of working groups.

Minister Nalbandian also noted during Armenian Chairmanship nearly 70 events were organized, a number of initiatives were put forward to implement the provisions of “BSEC Economic Agenda: Towards an Enhanced Partnership” and the “BSEC Public Communication Strategy”.

The Heads of Delegations representing the BSEC Member States and the Secretary General of the BSEC in their speeches highly commended Armenia’s activities in the capacity of the Chairman of the Organization pointing out that the work of the BSEC was active and intensive.

At the end of the Meeting the ceremony of transferring the Chairmanship to the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Kristian Vigenin took place which was followed by a joint press conference of the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin and the Secretary General of the BSEC.