RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arthur Martirosyan has been on an official visit to Bucharest, Romania, since September 21 to participate in the Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Francophonie Countries.

It will last until September 24. The opening of the scientific session of the Francophonie was also held within the framework of the Conference.

The objective of the event is to introduce the new strategy of the AUF (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie) for 2021-2025, to review the governing bodies, to hold the first scientific francophone meetings and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the AUF (1961-2021). The forum will include round table discussions for university rectors, and the results of the elections of the chairman and the Francophonie Board of Management will be officially announced. The core of the conference is the development of a policy of French-speaking scientific diplomacy.

In his opening remarks, RA ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan stressed that cooperation in the field of education and science at this level is considered the most efficient way of advancing the economy, which will smooth out political and economic disputes between the countries and bring them to new borders of mutually beneficial cooperation. According to the Deputy Minister, Armenia is committed to the primary mission of the Francophonie and is always ready to develop and implement cooperation programs in the field of education and science.

“I would like to note that Armenia, being also a member of the Centre Régional Francophone pour l'Europe Centrale et Orientale (CREFECO) actively cooperates in the process of training French teachers at the national or regional level, aimed at enhancing the teaching of French and non-linguistic subjects taught in French,” said A. Martirosyan.

Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie is one of the main institutions in the development of higher education and scientific research of Francophone in Armenia. It supports, in particular, the member universities of the University Agency of La Francophonie in Armenia, contributing to the implementation of various programs aimed at enhancing the quality of their services. To foster and enhance the research works in French, as well as international cooperation, a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2016 between the University Agency of La Francophonie and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia.