The Shirak region governor, Mushegh Muradyan, and his staff officials hosted the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia, Olivier Decottignies, who was in Gyumri on a familiarization visit.

The governor of Shirak congratulated the Ambassador on his appointment to a responsible position and wished him success in his initiatives. "I am happy to host you in the Shirak region. I know you are in Gyumri for the first time; I am sure you will like our region and city."

The governor presented the Shirak region's possibilities and potential to the Ambassador and addressed the issues and upcoming tasks. "Being a serious industrial center, Shirak lost its former capacities after the earthquake and went through the path of reconstruction and construction for decades. Many projects have been implemented, but we still have work to do. No matter how difficult the road has been, our region has preserved its special spirit and has great potential for developing tourism and culture, as well as for taking a new path of development in various fields. I fully hope that Armenian-French interregional relations will continue to develop dynamically from now on, and we will be able to contribute to their rapprochement with joint efforts. The region and communities of Shirak already have experience of cooperation with different regions of France; I am sure that with joint efforts we will give new breath and momentum to that cooperation."

The Ambassador thanked the governor for his warm and direct reception, noting that, as Ambassador, he would spare no effort to strengthen decentralized cooperation. "Mr. Governor, I am glad to meet you, and thank you for your directness. You are right; different regions and cities of France have already established friendships with the Shirak region; I assure you that I will do everything to move our cooperation to a new dimension and to develop it in new directions; I am talking about economic and cultural cooperation."

During the meeting, reference was made to cooperation in the economic, cultural, health, and educational fields and new perspectives on decentralized cooperation between communities.

At the end of the meeting, the governor handed over a souvenir to the Ambassador, expressing his confidence that the panels will have a periodic nature, as a result of which new programs will be outlined and implemented.