During his working visit to Tavush Province, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited today Dilijan Municipality where he had a meeting with Governor of Tavush Province Hayk Chobanyan and Mayor Armen Santrosyan, as reported the press service of the President of Armenia.

The President informed that the French city of Chamond, which traditionally hosts the prestigious Summit of Ideas, has expressed the desire to establish deeper friendly relations with Dilijan.

“Just a couple of days ago, I was informed that the Municipality of Chamonix wants to establish friendly relations with Dilijan. Of course, the first step was taken when the famous Summit of Minds in Chamonix now has its sister summit, which will be held in Dilijan every year. The summit will be held in Chamonix in the fall, and Armenia decided to hold it in either late spring or early summer,” the President said, adding that the city council has decided to further deepen cooperation with Dilijan.

He mentioned that even though Chamonix is smaller than Dilijan and only has a population of 10,000, it receives 5,000,000 tourists a year. “It is almost as beautiful as Diljian and is an old city like Dilijan. There is a proposal for Dilijan’s representatives to visit Chamonix and consider the directions for cooperation soon. So, I congratulate us all and wish us success,” he said.

Governor of Tavush Province Hayk Chobanyan expressed gratitude to the President for this initiative.

“Thank you for this gift. We are positioning Dilijan as a city of intelligentsia, quality life and tourism where the main topics will be education, culture, science and innovation,” the governor said.

President Sarkissian welcomed the actions of the regional and municipal authorities aimed at restoring the reputation of Dilijan as a city of culture and tourism and expressed confidence that the cooperation with Chamonix will be effective, adding that the French party has already expressed willingness to host a delegation of Armenian partners.