On July 13, at the 2nd ministerial conference that took place in the capital of Bolivia, La Paz, Armenia became a full member of Ancient Civilizations Forum upon the agreement of its eight founding member states - Bolivia, Greece, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Italy and Peru.

The Armenian delegation was headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ashot Hovakimian, who, during his speech at the conference, touched upon the multi-millennial history of Armenia underlining that the membership of Armenia to the forum is not only a recognition of it as an ancient civilization, but is also a valuable gift towards 2800 anniversary of the foundation of Yerevan.

Ashot Hovakimian reiterated Armenia’s commitment to promote tolerance, cultural diversity and dialogue between civilizations, expressing Armenia’s full support to the goals, ideas and principles of the Ancient Civilizations Forum.

As a result of the conference, the member states, including the Republic of Armenia, adopted the “Tiwanaku Declaration (pre-columbian archeological site.)”

On the same day, the Deputy Foreign Minister and the Ambassador of Armenia to Argentine met with Foreign Minister of Bolivia, Fernando Huanacuni Mamani. During the meeting a discussion was held on possibilities and prospects of further strengthening of relations and deepening of cooperation between the two states. The Deputy Minister expressed great appreciation for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Bolivian parliament in 2014 as well as the important role of Foreign Ministers of Bolivia and Greece in the process of admission of Armenia to the Ancient Civilizations Forum.

Reference: Ancient Civilizations Forum was founded in 2017. The first ministerial conference of the Forum took place in Athens on April 24, 2017, upon the joint initiative of China and Greece. In 2017, Bolivia, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Italy, China and Peru were participating in the Forum as founding members, while India and Mexico were observers. According to the final act, adopted as a result of the first ministerial conference of the Ancient Civilizations Forum, a key international platform of dialogue and cultural cooperation was formed.