Deputy Speaker presents draft visa-free agreement to Dominican Ambassador

On February 19, the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Hakob Arshakyan received Alejandro Arias Zarzuela, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to our country (residence in Moscow), the press service of the Parliament has said in a press release.

Congratulating Alejandro Arias Zarzuela on being appointed Ambassador, Hakob Arshakyan expressed conviction that the latter’s professional abilities and activities will promote the development of the relations between Armenia and the Dominican Republic.

“Armenia is interested in developing friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with the Dominican Republic, and this is due, in particular, to the fact that the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Canada has also been accredited to the Dominican Republic since 2021,” Arshakyan underscored.

Deputy Speaker welcomed the opening of the diplomatic representation of the Dominican Republic in Yerevan in 2022 as an important step of the development of bilateral relations. Armenia also plans to establish an Honorary Consulate in Santa Domingo.

According to Arshakyan, the during 17 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries there have been no high-level bilateral visits yet. In this context, the Deputy Speaker highlighted the increasing importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation year after year.

Highlighting legal and contractual issues in bilateral relations,  Arshakyan noted that the Armenian side has begun work in that direction by presenting a draft agreement on a visa-free regime between the two countries, which will contribute to boosting close contacts between citizens and business communities.

Deputy Speaker Hakob Arshakyan spoke about the necessity of the development of cooperation in the educational, tourism and trade-economic spheres.

The deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Tatevik Gasparyan noted that both Armenia and the Dominican Republic are democratic countries, bearers of the same value system, and have many commonalities.

Expressing gratitude for reception, the Ambassador emphasized the deepening of inter-parliamentary relations. In this context, the sides expressed their willingness to take steps for creating Friendship Groups. Alejandro Arias Zarzuela underlined that despite the big distance between the countries, there is potential of development of collaboration in different spheres.