Within the framework of the 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, which is taking place in Saudi Arabia, Hakob Simidyan, Minister of Environment of the RA had a bilateral meeting with Niels Annen, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Hakob Simidyan talked about Armenian-German relations and noted that there are effective and high-level cooperative relations with broad agendas between the two states not only in the field of environmental protection.
Mr. Annen, in his turn, congratulated Armenia on hosting Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biodiversity and reaffirmed the readiness of the Federal Republic of Germany to support the Republic of Armenia in organizing and holding COP17.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the current environmental programs, referring to the “Biodiversity and Sustainable Local Development in Armenia” largest grant program implemented with financial assistance from Germany, the total budget of which currently amounts to 26.2 million euros. The program envisages two components, which are among the priorities of the COP17 agenda: Biodiversity and conservation and management of specially protected areas and Forest conservation and sustainable management.
At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached to further deepen the existing cooperation.