On June 17, Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia Vahagn Melikyan held a working discussion via video conference with Arman Vatyan and Migara de Silva, official representatives of the World Bank. Suren Krmoyan, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan, Aharon Mkrtchyan, the Manager of Public Sector Modernization Project and other members of the working group participated in the video conference.

At the beginning of the meeting, Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry expressed gratitude for the programs implemented previously during the 3rd stage of the Public Sector Modernization Program funded by the World Bank. As a  result of implementation of these programs the operation of E-Visa and E-Consul electronic systems were improved, and the  Ministry was provided with various technical equipment. 

Vahagn Melikyan presented the innovation by the Foreign Ministry, which provides the  remote way of identification through the video communication instead of traditional face-to-face method, and makes a number of consular services available online. It was also mentioned that all the necessary legislative changes had already been completed.

In response, the official representative of the World Bank Arman Vatyan noted that the previously implemented programs with the Foreign Ministry of Armenia are successful and effective, therefore they are interested in continuing the cooperation in the framework of the proposed project.

Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister, Suren Krmoyan, in his turn, emphasized that the Foreign Ministry always presents innovative solutions and it is one of the leading ministries in terms of digitalization. He added that it is necessary to make the developing technical solutions applicable for other state structures as well.

The representatives of the World Bank offered the presentation of new ideas envisaged by long-term e-government projects.

The sides discussed necessary steps for the implementation of the presented project and outlined the timeframes.