On Sunday, October 5, Minister Oskanian received Gladys Berejiklian of Australia. Ms. Berejiklian, a State Member of Parliament for Willoughby, New South Wales, is a member of the Liberal Party and the first Armenian elected to Parliament.

On the same day, the Minister also received Aso Tavitian, a New York-based philanthro-pist who has founded and supports the Ministry Library, as well as continuing education programs for diplomats and other government officials in the US. Mr. Tavitian has sponso-red two six-month certificate programs for Ministry personnel at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In 2004, he will sponsor a similar program at the same institution, this time on international economic relations. Participants are from four government ministries and agencies. Mr. Tavitian, accompanied by Ms. Leslie Friedman, met with the program participants and encouraged them to broaden their knowledge base to benefit their own institutions and Armenia's economic development. The Bulgarian-born industrialist who studied at Haigazian College in Beirut and Columbia University in New York on scholarships shared his educational experiences to explain his strong personal and financial commitment to the educational growth and development of young Armenian professionals.