YEREVAN—The 8th Eastern Partnership Informal Ministerial Meeting is took place in Yerevan on November 17, announced Armenia’s Education and Science Ministry press service. The session was hosted by the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science and discussed research, science and innovation.
The new European Union (EU) initiative, EU4Inovation, was launched at the meeting by Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations and Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation with the Eastern Partnership countries.
The initiative “combines all EU activities that support the development of Eastern Partnership countries (EaP) innovation capacities, notably those funded under the Horizon 2020 program and the European Neighbourhood Instrument” read the European Commission’s press release on Thursday.
“Innovation is crucial for competitiveness and addressing global challenges such as climate change and sustainable development. Our new initiative, EU4Innovation, will boost the innovation capacities of our Eastern partners. It will stimulate innovative ideas and support them on the way to market, while at the same time draw on the existing knowledge and networks we are building in the EU,” Moedas stated.
Armenia’s Education and Science Minister Levon Mkrtchyan commented on the new initiative under Horizon 2020 saying “We believe that after joining [Horizon 2020], it became possible for countries to see our [Armenia’s] sciences are in line with the European path. I thank our European friends for coordinating this partnership in order to better focus on our efforts.”
