President Halimah Yacob and Armenian President Armen Sarkissian reaffirmed the warm relations between their countries in a meeting at the Istana yesterday, and discussed the common interests as fellow small states and the scope for both countries to learn from each other. President Sarkissian is in Singapore till Nov 20 to attend the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.

"The Armenian community has been a part of us since our early days, and is one of the oldest communities in Singapore," President Halimah said in a Facebook post. She also highlighted Armenians who have left their mark on Singapore, among them Ms Agnes Joaquim, who bred Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid. The Straits Times co-founder Catchick Moses and Raffles Hotel founders Arshak, Tigran and Aviet Sarkies were also Armenian.