Iran, Armenia Sign Trade Agreement

The agreement was signed by Iran’s Industry Minister Alireza Razm Hosseini and Armenia’s Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan on Saturday.

In remarks at the event, the Iranian minister said the agreement is going to boost commercial exchanges between the two countries, noting that the value of Iranian exports to Armenia stand at around $300 million at present.

"Armenia is a Eurasian country and we have a positive attitude towards trade with Eurasia," Razm Hosseini said, stressing the need for continued negotiations to allow Iran to join the Eurasian Economic Union.

There are suitable grounds for trade cooperation between Iran and Armenia in various fields, such as mining industry, foodstuff trade, and home appliances, IRNA quoted him as saying.

For his part, the visiting Armenian minister highlighted Yerevan’s readiness for trade ties with Iran, saying his country offers a big market for the Iranian business people willing to work with the third countries.

In another meeting on Saturday, heads of a number of Iranian and Armenian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) discussed the ways to establish of a technology exchange center.

Earlier in January, a marketing official at the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran said Armenia is willing to import over 2,000 items from Iran after announcing bans on imports from Turkey.

He said Armenia has plans to replace 2,250 Turkish items with products made in Iran, describing it as an opportunity for Iranian companies.

On December 31, 2020, a ban on the goods imported from Turkey took effect in Armenia. The Armenian government announced the ban in late October following Turkey’s heavy backing of the Republic Azerbaijan in the recent war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The ban would be in effect for only six months, as that is the maximum period that member states of the Eurasian Economic Union can implement unilateral embargos of this type.