City Welcomes Armenian Delegation

A nine member delegation from Cambridge's sister city in Armenia arrived in the city this week in an effort to promote long term business relations between Cambridge and Yerevan, the capital of the Soviet republic.

The visit had been planned since last June, but because of an earth-quake in Armenia that killed tens of thousands and left many more homeless, the delegation is also seeking aid from area businesses.

"We told them now was a good time to come because they would receive national attention," said Jeb Brugmann, president of the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association.

As a result of the earthquake, the Cambridge architectural firm of Lazano, White & Associates will help design shock-proof building for Yerevan. Other potential areas of trade which the delegation plans to explore range from souvenir shops to advanced biotechnology, said Cambridge Vice Mayor Alice K. Wolf.

"When I was there, there was an interest in reciprocal trade and joint [business] ventures between the two cities," said Wolf, who visited Armenia last June. "The delegates are interested, generally, in exploring the possibility of trade relations," she added.

Speaking through a translator at Monday's City Council meeting, Yerevan Vice Mayor Babken Vardanyan thanked the city for its relief efforts, adding he hoped the ties developed now would continue in the future. And Councillor Francis H. Duehay '55 praised the changes in the USSR which made the exchange possible.

"I think we've witnessed in the last several years in our country, as well as in our city, a historic breakthrough between our two countries," Duehay said.

The exchange may allow Cambridge business to develop new markets in the Soviet Union, said Allan D. Bell, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce. Duehay said proof that the exchange would be reciprocal could be found in the 50 cases of Armenian brandy that the delegation carried with it.

Before arriving in Cambridge, delegation members met with Vice President George Bush and Red Cross officials in Washington.

The delegation is composed of top level business and trade officials from Yerevan and other areas of the USSR, according to Brugmann. He said that while in Cambridge, members visited the Polaroid factory and attended seminars about the American economy.

Cambridge has at least four other sister cities, including San Jose Las Flores in El Salvador, Tsukuba in Japan and towns in Portugal and Italy, Wolf said. However, similar efforts to expand ties in this way are not planned.

"Each relationship is run differently and for different purposes," Wolf said.