TEHRAN- Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Artashes Toumanian said that Iran and Armenia enjoy an old economic relation.

The envoy made the remarks in a meeting with the businessmen and traders of Iran’s central Markazi province and the members of the chamber of commerce of Arak (the center of Markazi) in his trip to the city on Sunday.

Iran and Armenia have good cooperation areas in various fields, including political and economic, and the relationship between the two countries has increased in recent years, he further stressed.

Armenia's relation with Iran is of significant politically, economically and culturally and Iran has a special status among Armenia's neighbors, the ambassador noted.

Saying that Iran-Armenia trade ties can rise significantly, the Armenian envoy said that Iran can re-export its products via Armenia.

Last week, during a meeting between Iranian commercial attaché in Yerevan and Armenian Customs Authorities, the two sides explored the ways to remove the obstacles to boosting bilateral trade between Iran and Armenia.

As reported by Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), during the meeting it was emphasized on the reform of some trade procedures for the Iranian traders, including under invoicing and problems in non-clearance of goods in the Armenia's customs.

The ways of removing the barriers in the way of trade between the two countries had been also discussed during a meeting between Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboum and Armenian Deputy Economy Minister Varos Simonyan two weeks ago.

In the meeting held on June 29, the officials underlined the significant growth in the level of trade between the two countries and stressed the need for planning to further develop cooperation within the framework of the preferential trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and achieve the desired level of bilateral trade.

Speaking in the meeting, Zadboum referred to the two countries’ deep cultural, historical, and political relations and stated: “The Trade Development Organization of Iran is ready to hold a meeting of the [two countries] joint industrial, mining and commercial working group in order to identify obstacles and problems facing bilateral trade and to take appropriate and effective decisions to address them.”

He further expressed satisfaction with the holding of Iran’s exclusive exhibition in Armenia earlier this month and noted that holding such events in the two countries and the exchange of trade delegations is necessary to better introduce export capabilities and to exchange information related to the needs of the two markets.

Zadboum also pointed to the removal of non-tariff barriers and reduction of logistics and transportation costs, along with the expansion of the scope of the preferential trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU, as important factors in increasing the level of trade relations between the two countries and called for addressing such subjects in the joint working groups.

Simonyan for his part welcomed the holding of a joint working group on industry, mining, and trade as soon as possible, and announced his readiness to hold expert talks during the meetings of the joint working group between the two countries.

The Armenian deputy minister also met with the Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, in which the two sides stressed the need for boosting joint investment in various sectors.

In this meeting, Shafeie noted that Iran and Armenia could become good trade partners among the EAEU members.

Mining, livestock, and agriculture, textiles, clothing, construction, technical and engineering services, as well as transportation and transit, were among the areas mentioned by the officials for mutual cooperation.

Back in January, Iran, and Armenia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the expansion of trade ties between the two countries.

The MOU was signed by Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Alireza Razm Hosseini and the Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan in Tehran.

Expansion of trade with the neighboring countries, especially boosting exports to the neighbors is one of the major policies that Iran is seriously pursuing to nullify the effects of the U.S. sanctions on its economy.

In this regard, given its good political and cultural relation with Iran, the neighboring country Armenia is one of the major trade partners of Iran and the Islamic Republic is taking different measures to expand trade ties with this neighbor.

Iran’s signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with Eurasian Economic Union has noticeably affected its trade relation with Armenia.

Based on the agreement, which was finally reached in 2018 after several years of negotiations, about 862 commodity items are subject to preferential tariffs.

According to the Head of Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hervik Yarijanian, the preferential trade agreement between Iran and EAEU has had a significant impact on the country’s trade relations with Armenia.

According to the official, the volume of trade between the two countries has witnessed an outstanding rise since the agreement became effective.

Iran mainly imports red meat from Armenia, while Armenia imports polymer raw materials, machinery, industrial gases, manufactured artifacts, leather and leather goods from Iran, he said.

MA/MA