TEHRAN- Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) will hold the 18th exhibition of Iranian products and conference on investment opportunities in Iran in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan from September 28 to 30, TPO portal reported.

Armenia is one of the countries preserving and expanding its economic relations with Iran regardless of the sanction condition.

It has been several times emphasized by the Armenian officials as during a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran in late February, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan voiced his country’s willingness to boost cooperation with the Islamic Republic in all areas, including agriculture, transport and tourism.

President Rouhani, for his turn, said Iran is satisfied with Armenia’s stance on the irrational and illegal sanctions imposed against Iran by the United States.

Also, during the visit of an Iranian press delegation to Yerevan at the invitation of Pashinyan on August 31, the Armenian official told Donyaye Eqtesad daily that the U.S. sanctions and its policy of most pressure on Iran will have no effect on Iran-Armenia joint economic projects.

“The two countries are already fulfilling their commitments in their joints projects”, he emphasized.

“Armenia will never join an anti-Iran movement”, the prime minister further reiterated.

In terms of bilateral trade, as previously announced by Iran’s commercial attaché to Yerevan Mohsen Rahimi, the value of trade between Iran and Armenia has hit a record high of $364 million in 2018.

The official put the worth of Iran’s export to its neighbor at $269 million and said that natural gas, petrochemicals, iron and steel, tiles and ceramics, fruit and nuts have been the major Iranian products exported to Armenia in the past year.

Also, in a bid to expand their economic and trade ties, the two countries are investigating the possibility of trade with their national currencies.

“We have proposed to the Armenian president that the two sides establish a financial institution which would operate outside the two countries’ banking systems,” Hervik Yarijanian, the head of Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce, said in mid-July.

MA/MA