02 Dec 2015
The US Ambassador’s First Visit to CARD Office
In the framework of a month-long focus on Agriculture and Rural Development in Armenia undertaken by the US Embassy, the Honorable Ambassador Richard Mills Jr. paid a visit to CARD Foundation office on November 30th, 2015.
Mr. Ambassador met with CARD staff members and had short talks with them. As part of his visit, the CARD director Mr. Gagik Sardaryan held a brief presentation on USDA/CARD history, made highlights on sector developments and achievements in partnership with the US Government as well as ongoing US AID funded projects.
Mr. Ambassador and the CARD Management had general discussions on Agriculture sector related issues particularly: access to credits in rural areas, possible efforts for branding of local products, Armenia-Turkey border opening issues, Armenia’s trade links with neighboring countries, food security, etc.
During the meeting, Mr. Ambassador referred to the one-month long focus on Agriculture and mentioned, “It just reminded me how important Agriculture is to the Economy. Agriculture is not as fully developed as it could be. There is much room for growth. There is a huge difference between rural areas and Yerevan. It was a chance for me to see that. On the other hand, I’ve also seen some success stories”.
The visit ended up with a great group photo with CARD staff.