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On August 3, the Chief of Staff-Secretary General of the RA National Assembly Ara Saghatelyan received the delegation led by the Secretary General of the Georgian Parliament Givi Mikanadze being in Armenia on a working visit.

The Georgian partners accompanied by Ara Saghatelyan took a tour in the parliament building. The Head of the RA Legislative Body Staff presented to the guests the repairing works going on in the parliament, noting that soon the NA Museum, the press hall designed for the journalists will be ready and the NA library will be completely renovated.

Afterwards in the frameworks of the private conversation Ara Saghatelyan and Givi Mikanadze discussed the possibilities of lasting cooperation in different formats of the staff units, touched upon the works directed to the provision of the parliamentary activity, highlighted the exchange of experience at the level of the staffs, including the analytical and legislative development programmes.

Ara Saghatelyan has noted that joint programmes are effectively implemented with the Georgian Parliament at the level of the Eastern Partnership, as well as the regional cooperation. In this context Ara Saghatelyan emphasized the continuous development capacity programmes and exhcnge of experience of the staffs, particularly in the issues of reinforcement of control and development of information-analytical skills. Noting that the Georgian side has a programme aimed at the rise of the Staff employees’ qualification, Ara Sagahelyan has underlined that there is an agreement o involving the RA NA Staff in that programme. According to the Chief of Staff of the National Assembly, the Georgian experience of the creation of the parliamentary library, as well as the legislative oversight can be instructive for Armenia.

The sides have underlined with satisfaction that both Armenia and Georgia are members of the Association of the Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) and they can make joint initiatives at international level, presenting the prior problems of the regional importance, as well as their countries and the staffs of their parliaments.

The Secretary General of the Georgian Parliament Givi Mikanadze noted that on September 24-25 a Conference of the Secretaries General of the parliaments of the Eastern Partnership 6 countries would be held in Georgia, where Armenia would also take part. To Givi Mikanadze’s assessment, the event will be a good start-up of closer cooperation for the Secretaries General at regional level. In this context the Georgian colleague informed Ara Saghatelyan that the Deputy Secretary General of the German Bundestag would also take part in the Conference. Within the framework of the Conference a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed, where the important remarks of further cooperation between the regional countries would be concluded. The Secretary General of the Georgian Parliament noted that in 2019 in Kutaisi summer and winter training courses would be organized for the employees of the staffs of the parliaments of the Eastern Partnership 6 countries, which would be held by the German specialists. To his assessment, it will let developing and deepening the cooperation between the different units of the staffs and enlivening the direct contacts. They also talked about the importance of the development of cooperation between the Budget Offices of the two countries’ legislative bodies.

Givi Mikanadze also presented the works being done within the framework of the initiative Open Government Partnership (OGP), referred to the processes of harmonization with legislation of Georgia, emphasizing the necessity of the development of the parliamentary oversight mechanisms at the legislative level.

At the end of the meeting the interlocutors expressed readiness of raising the efficiency of the staffs’ activities and supporting each other at the international level.

Ara Saghatelyan has underscored that the Staff of the National Assembly of Armenia is always ready to serve its capacities and resources for the advancement of the parliamentary cooperation on the regional  and international platforms.