Since joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the dynamics of the RA’s foreign trade volume has registered a steady growth tendency. In January-October of the current year, the volume of foreign trade turnover of the RA amounted to 15.5 billion USD, increasing by 41% compared to the same period of the previous year. The Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration Vagharshak Hakobyan said this at the extraordinary sitting of the Committee on December 18. He informed that 37% of the total trade turnover fell to the EEU member states.
During these months, the export volumes from the RA to the EEU member states increased by 66%, and the import volumes from the EEU member states increased by 20%. According to the data of the first half of 2023, 40% of the net reserves of foreign investments made in the real sector, or about 800 billion AMD, are allocated to the Russian Federation alone. In the first nine months of 2023, 1.8 million tourists visited the RA, 47.4% of them from Russia.
“The presentation of these RA macro-economic indicators within the EEU framework is not accidental, although their dynamics are satisfactory, all the same, according to our estimates, there are growth reserves that can also be used,” Vagharshak Hakobyan mentioned. The issue of introduction of the new concept of Window of Opportunity for ensuring cooperation in the business environment within the EEU was debated. It implies the collection of necessary investment programmes by the Ministries of Economy of the same member states and their presentation on a single platform.
According to the presentation of the Deputy Chair of the Committee, the platform can be in the form of both an electronic and a physical structure. Investment programmes will be collected. In case of submitting an application for participation in the programme, state support will be provided by the authorized state agencies, the scope and format of which will be defined by the Government. “It can be ensured in our country by the implementation of new investment projects, the introduction of energy-saving technologies, the organization of local production, as well as the creation of new jobs and additional economic growth,” Vagharshak Hakobyan detailed.
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“We are interested in making Armenia’s economy more complex, implementing investment programmes, this initiative is welcomed for us,” the RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said highlighting the initiated debate. He informed that from January 1, 2024, the Funding Assistance Programme for Cooperative Projects will be launched in the manufacturing industry, underling that Armenia played a major role during the development of the programme. Vahan Kerobyan noted that the technical and economic analysis of the Gyumri dry port project is almost done. According to him, the industrial park that is planned to be built in Gyumri will be a very suitable platform for the project under debate.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
