Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan discussed with Lebanese officials on Monday efforts to promote bilateral economic cooperation to encourage investments in both countries. Karapetyan, heading a government delegation, met on Monday with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri, and is expected to hold separate meetings with representatives from economic and private sectors. In a joint news conference with Hariri, the Armenian premier expressed his country’s keenness to develop relations with Lebanon, saying: “The talks took place in an atmosphere of mutual trust. We exchanged views and agreed that the relations between our countries are at a very high level in all fields. In fact, we are friendly countries and very close to each other.” Karapetyan said that he and his Lebanese counterpart discussed bilateral economic relations, stressing that Armenia had great capabilities to develop cooperation with Lebanon. “We tackled the capabilities of our countries, and we are very interested in receiving Lebanese businessmen in Armenia. In this context, we reviewed the potential of Armenia, especially as a member in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), thus benefitting from the GP Plus System of preferences in the framework of its relations with the European Union, as well as other business opportunities that we have,” he noted. “We also have potentials, very big markets in many fields, light industries, gold and pharmaceutical industries, tourism, and information technology. We agreed to discuss ways to establish a joint Armenian-Lebanese fund to support the initiatives that will be reached,” the Armenian premier added. Hariri, for his part, stressed that his meeting with Karapetyan was excellent. “Ties between Lebanon and Armenia, and between the Lebanese and Armenian peoples, are historic, deep and solid thanks to the Lebanese from Armenian origin, who represent an integral part of the social fabric of our country and occupy high positions in all state institutions,” he said. “As for the fund which Premier Karapetyan talked about, it is being examined and is a worthy idea because it encourages investments and we have to start as soon as possible. Also there are several fields of cooperation between our countries in the technology sector,” Hariri added.