RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of Mexico to the Republic of Armenia Eduardo Villegas Megías. ESCS Deputy Ministers Arthur Martirosyan and Alfred Kocharyan also attended the meeting.

Welcoming the Ambassador, the ESCS Minister congratulated him on his appointment and wished him fruitful work in the advancement, further strengthening and deepening of the Armenian-Mexican friendly ties.

“At the beginning of the year, we received the delegation headed by the Chair of the Mexico-Armenia Friendship Group of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico Berenice Juarez Navarrete at the Ministry and discussed issues related to promoting cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and sports, and the importance of experience exchange in various directions,” said Zhanna Andreasyan.

She noted that a practical program “On cultural cooperation between the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Culture of the United Mexican States for 2023-2026” has been developed and is currently at the stage of intra-state mutual agreement, which will provide an opportunity to carry out joint activities and a number of events.

During the meeting, the prospects for cooperation with the Mexican side in the areas under the Ministry’s coordination were also discussed. The importance of implementing joint scientific and educational programs that can contribute to the creation of new opportunities for cooperation in the fields of science and education was particularly emphasized. “Within the framework of the Armenian-Mexican friendly cooperation, there is a great potential that can contribute to strengthening inter-university cooperation through joint educational and research programs, as well as exchange programs for students and teachers,” said the Minister.

The opportunity of implementing joint programs in the field of culture was also discussed at the meeting by the sides. The possibility of fostering cooperation between the grant programs “Armenian Literature in Translations” and the Mexican “Translation Assistance Program” (Programa de Apoyo a la Traducción) was particularly emphasized.

The importance of initiatives to advance Armenian-Mexican relations in the fields of preservation and management of cultural heritage, promotion of professional qualifications and exchange of experience, enhancement of museum cooperation between the two countries, organization of exhibitions of folk art, workshops and thematic meetings for preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage was also highlighted.

During the meeting, Deputy Minister Alfred Kocharyan touched upon issues aimed at advancing cultural tourism, emphasizing the possibility of implementing joint programs in this direction as well.

Zhanna Andreasyan thanked the Senate of Mexico for the adoption of the document on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on February 8 this year. She also raised the issues of the humanitarian crisis that has arisen as a result of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh and violations of the right to education, which have irreversible consequences for human rights.

The newly appointed Ambassador thanked for the reception and emphasized that during the diplomatic mission, he would make his best efforts to strengthen the Armenian-Mexican relations and implement existing cooperation programs.

During the meeting, other issues of mutual interest were touched upon.