The Minister of Environment Romanos Petrosyan met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to Armenia Kirsti Narinen and Honorary Consul of Finland to Armenia Timothy Strait.
Thanking for the initiative of the meeting, the Minister noted the importance of the Twinning program "Strengthened protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in Armenia in line with European standards", implemented by the Consortium of the Czech Republic and the Republic of Finland, which has launched on March 4. The program budget is 1,000,000 euros, the duration of the program is 24 months.
The Department of International Cooperation and the professional subdivisions of the Ministry are tasked to get involved in the processes as much as possible and provide assistance to the parties.
The Minister also noted with regret that in terms of ecosystem development, such a leading country as Finland does not have another ongoing program with the Ministry of Environment, in the direction of which efforts should be made and concrete work should be carried out.
The Minister said that the Government of Armenia, in particular, the Ministry of Environment, is ready to discuss the formats of the widest cooperation in the field of development of green technologies and green economy, as well as the use of renewable energy sources.
We will be glad to cooperate and exchange experience also in the field of effective management of specially protected areas of nature, forest and water resources.
Minister Petrosyan touched upon the environmental problems existing at this stage, legislative changes initiated by the Ministry of the Environment and those reforms, due to the will of the regulation of the sphere, they managed to be implemented.
They also discussed with the Ambassador the policy aimed at improving the quality of ecological education in society and raising the level of awareness on environmental issues.
At the end of the meeting, the Minister expressed hope that meetings in such a format and bilateral efforts will make it possible to consistently strengthen relations and deepen cooperation in the field of environmental management.