ShareBy Majd Othman
KUWAIT: Consul of the Republic of Armenia to Kuwait Ara Matevosyan told Kuwait Times the Armenian community in Kuwait reached 5,000 people in 2023, adding they enjoy the respect of both Kuwaiti authorities and citizens, who have been supporting the community through the presence of the Armenian Church as well as the school, which was established in 1961.
The consul's statement came on the sidelines of the Francophone Month event "Francophone Bazar" held by the French Embassy on Friday at Shaheed Park. The consul said the Armenian Embassy celebrates Francophone month in cooperation with Francophonie embassies in Kuwait. He explained this event includes each embassy representing its country's culture through cuisine, dances and songs. Armenia had a show of the "Hamazkayin Shakeh" dance group, which performed in both French and Armenian languages.
"Armenia since 2012 is a full member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. We attach great importance to enhancing cooperation with this organization, and Armenia is keen to develop politician cooperation within this organization with our friends and partners," Matevosyan said. "The Francophonie Organization plays an important role in Armenian foreign policy, and in this month, more than 100 events were held in Armenia, in addition to the celebration at all Armenian embassies abroad," he added. "Armenia's relations with France extends since centuries, not to forget the big Armenian community in France, while some of them are a famous, such as Charles Aznavour, the French-Armenian singer and lyricist."
Armenian-Kuwaiti relationship
Matevosyan said Kuwaiti-Armenian relations are developing dynamically. "We have cooperation in the fields of tourism, education and culture, as well as economic cooperation. There are many Kuwaiti travelers and investors who are interested in projects presented by Armenia for promising and future investments," he said.
"Currently, the Armenian Embassy is working on opening a direct commercial line between Kuwait and Armenia. In addition, there is cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and education, where eight Armenian students come from Armenia to Kuwait to study at Kuwait University annually. Personally, I was one of those students," he revealed. "We are working to develop potential cooperation through joint efforts with the Kuwaiti side to push relations to a new qualitative level for the benefit of the two brotherly peoples," Matevosyan concluded.
