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| Marcello Rizzi and Samvel Balasanyan |
by Gayane Simonyan
Samvel Balasanyan, the mayor of the second largest city in Armenia , Gyumri, hosted several officials from
the Italian city Nardò (Puglia
The Italian delegation from Nardò city is headed by Mayor
Marcello Rizzi. Mr. Balasanyan greeted the delegation and shortly discussed the
Armenian-Italian cooperation, relations and issues concerning the two cities.
He expressed his great hope that the bilateral visits and a memorandum to be signed
later would contribute to the reinforcement of economic and cultural ties
between the two sister cities.
In his turn, the Nardò mayor pointed the importance of the
bilateral spiritual relationships stressing that Gregory the Illuminator, a
religious leader confided to converting Armenia
Mr. Rizzi expressed his great excitement and admire over Armenia
At the end of the meeting the memorandum was signed between Armenia
Exchange of experience and possibilities of investments are the
key points in all these spheres.
Gyumri and Nardò were proclaimed as sister cities.
After the signing ceremony, the two mayors held a joint news
conference.
During his speech Samvel Balasanyan mentioned that according to
the co-mayor of Gyumri, Ruben Sanoyan, Italian city Nardò is very similar to
Armenian city Gyumri: Nardò is also a historical city with nearly the same
number of population as Gyumri has.
Mr. Balasanyan also stressed that Nardò has a rather big
Armenian community there and Armenians play quite an important role in the
development of that city. As for Gregory
the Illuminator, these people have a very interesting story which creates
spiritual connections between Gyumri and Nardò cities.
“I have been in Italy
According to him, tourism will surely develop between these two
cities as Gyumri airport has been restored, the roads reconstructed, so the
direct connection between these two cities are becoming quite realistic.
“We can organize youth events, youth forums concerning art,
painting and so on. And if they consider that they can produce paints for
stones here, we can provide some place in our city. This is my idea and I will
try to implement it”, Mr. Balasanyan said.
In contrast, Mr. Rizzi mentioned that after the proclamation of
Gyumri and Nardò as sister cities, their expectations are really high, though
he was sorry to say that he had got to know this city only during the
disastrous earthquake of 1988.
According to Mr.
Rizzi Armenia
