YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The programs to be implemented in the next 4 years under Armenia's Partnership Strategy with the World Bank were discussed at the January 27 meeting of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and the delegation headed by Vice President of the World Bank Shigeo Katsu. Expressing a high opinion about Armenia's cooperation with the WB, S. Sargsyan thanked the WB regional director for efficient jont work and wished success to the newly appointed Regional Director Asad Alam. According to the RA presidential press service, issues related to the global financial and economic crisis, its impact on Armenian economy, and ways of overcoming these challenges were discussed at the meeting. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan also met with the delegation headed by Shigeo Katsu on the same day. NT was informed by the RA Government Information and PR Department that the during the meeting the sides discussed cooperation with the WB, the bank's possible assistance to Armenia with the aim of overcoming the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis, as well as issues related to Armenia's cooperation and current negotiations with other influential financial organizations. Considering the strategy of Armenia's anticrisis program as quite definite, T. Sargsyan underlined that the main focus will be on increasing expenditures on infrastructures, in particular, by providing more credits to irrigation, energy, road construction, and small and medium-sized enterprises and implementing a number of envisaged reforms. Both sides stated that the current situation presupposes accelerated processes which will also have a preventive nature and enable to avoid possible economic shocks in the future. In this connection the Armenian prime minister said that Armenia is conducting negotiations with other financial organizations: the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, planning to increase the amount of sums expected from these banks for SME crediting at the expense of funds expected from the World Bank for this purpose and taking into account the fact that unlike the programs implemented with the indicated financial organizations, those financed by the WB have a broader coverage in terms of sectors. In the words of T. Sargysan, it will allow displaying a balanced approach to the financing of measures envisaged in various sectors.

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