European Commission Director General travels to South Caucasus to  launch new initiatives

ArmInfo.. European Commission Director General for Neighbourhood & Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, will travel to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan between 30 April and 4 May to discuss bilateral and regional cooperation and launch new initiatives. 

According to the EU press office, "on 30 April, Mr Koopman will visit  Armenia. His visit comes as a follow-up to the high-level  EU-US-Armenia meeting on 5 April and the announcement of a Resilience  and Growth Plan for Armenia.  During the mission, the Director  General will discuss the next steps for the strengthening of  EU-Armenia relations, including stepping up sectoral cooperation and  EU investments in the country, as well as EU support to reforms and  to the integration of displaced people. He will meet Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan, as well as members of the government, including  Deputy Prime Ministers Mher Grigoryan and Tigran Khachatryan, Members  of the National Assembly, business and civil society representatives.  Mr Koopman will also launch a joint EU-German project to improve  access to energy efficiency and sustainable energy solutions in rural  communities in Armenia.

On 1 and 2 May, Mr Koopman will be in Georgia to discuss EU-Georgia  cooperation, including the work on the 9 steps linked to Georgia's EU  candidate status. He will meet President Salome Zourabichvili, Prime  Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, as well as members of the government  including First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and  Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia  Darchiashvili. He will also meet representatives of parliamentary  parties and civil society, as well as investment partners. Mr Koopman  will launch several EU funded projects to help rehabilitate Georgia's  irrigation network, to foster investments in renewable energy  generation capacities and to support local currency lending for  Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.  

On 3 May and 4 May, Mr. Koopman will visit Azerbaijan to discuss  EU-Azerbaijan cooperation, including regional connectivity and  renewable energy in the run-up to the COP29 climate change  conference, which Azerbaijan will host in November.  He will meet  with Government officials, including the Head of the Department of  Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration Hikmet  Hajiyev, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov and Minister of Digital  Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev.  The Director General will  launch - together with representatives of EU Member States - a Team  Europe initiative on mine action in Azerbaijan to help address issues  such as capacity building, mine risk education, and victim support  building. Together with the EIB, the Director General will also  launch -EU support to improve the financial inclusion of Micro, Small  and Medium-sized Enterprises.

For more information, including for press access to project events  during the visits, please contact the EU Delegation's press officer,  the message reads.