Deputy foreign minister highlights regional connectivity and dialogue with neighboring countries
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Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan participated in the high-level launch event of the Connectivity Agenda Platform initiated by the European Union.
According to Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, the event also brought together delegations from Türkiye, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as representatives of international financial institutions and the European Commission.
The ministry said the platform was established to strengthen the connectivity agenda among the countries of the South Caucasus, the Black Sea region, Türkiye and Central Asia, and to advance interregional connectivity within the framework of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy.
As part of the conference, Kostanyan participated as a speaker in a panel discussion titled “Future Prospects of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor in the Black Sea and South Caucasus Regions: Towards 2030”.
The panel also featured Moldova’s deputy prime minister, Türkiye’s minister of transport and infrastructure, Ukraine’s minister for communities and territorial development, a vice president of the World Bank, as well as the European Commission’s deputy director-general for mobility and transport and director for the Eastern Neighbourhood and Türkiye.
In his remarks, Kostanyan stressed the importance of developing regional connectivity and promoting dialogue with neighboring countries in that context, noting that initiatives in this area could help fully realize the potential of the South Caucasus as an important link between Europe and Asia.
In this regard, he also highlighted the importance of advancing Armenia-EU partnership, particularly in the fields of transport, energy and digital connectivity.
Addressing the development of regional communications, the deputy foreign minister presented the Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace initiative. He emphasized that inclusive connectivity contributes to regional cooperation, economic development and confidence-building.
At the conclusion of the conference, letters of intent were signed between Armenia and the European Commission, as well as separately between Armenia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), concerning feasibility studies for three Armenian border crossing points and two northern highways.