YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian who is in the United Arab Emirates on a working visit met with President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, the Armenian President’s Office told Armenpress.

The Indonesian President highly appreciated the meeting with his Armenian counterpart and touched upon the Armenian-Indonesian historical connections, in particular remembering the Sarkies Brothers.

By attaching importance to the continuation of traditions President Sarkissian said his goal is to encourage the expansion of the bilateral mutual partnership and fully utilize the existing potential and opportunities. Armen Sarkissian said Armenians are global and closely-connected people, and thanks to the spread of Armenians and the Armenian business the cooperation potential is growing immensely.

The two presidents especially highlighted the expansion of cooperation and exchange of experience in the fields of IT, creative education and innovation. In this context President Sarkissian introduced the new presidential initiative ATOM (Advanced Tomorrow) on science and technology development in Armenia, stating that according to this program it is expected to have a Museum of the Future or the first Disney Land of artificial intelligence in Armenia. The program also aims at bringing international company representatives operating in IT to Armenia making the country one of the leading centers for artificial intelligence, data management and math modeling. The officials also discussed the cooperation opportunities with the Indonesian companies on the sidelines of this initiative.

The Armenian and Indonesian Presidents also exchanged views on the cooperation prospects within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The Indonesian President said his country expects Armenia’s support to the signing of a free trade zone agreement with the EAEU. President Sarkissian stated that the greater and dynamic the organization is, the more beneficial it will be for expanding the mutually beneficial partnership of the member states. He introduced Armenia’s competitive advantages thanks to which new opportunities will be provided to the Indonesian investors to enter new markets.

The meeting also touched upon the cooperation opportunities in tourism, agriculture, food safety, etc. President Sarkissian said Armenia can export high-quality fruits and vegetables, goods and products made on water base, which will be competitive in Indonesia.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan