Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin hailed his visit to Armenia as constructive, saying Tehran and Yerevan agreed on launching joint ventures.
“We have clinched new agreements with Armenian officials on joint production of pharmaceutical products and home appliances based on which raw materials or parts will be imported to Armenia. The joint products will be made in Armenia and exported to other countries,” Fatemi Amin said on Friday.
The minister announced that the visit to Armenia was aimed at developing bilateral trade ties via joint investments.
“This visit is focused on deepening ties between Iran and Armenia via joint ventures,” he had said upon arrival in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Thursday.
The Iranian minister headed a high-ranking delegation including trade officials and CEOs of private companies, during his first visit to Armenia since President Ebrahim Raisi took office back in August 2021.
He also described the meetings with Armenian officials as helpful, saying they would facilitate bilateral trade between the two neighboring countries.
“During the two-day visit we had helpful meetings with Armenian officials aimed at paving the way for the joint activities by Iranian and Armenian companies in trade transit, marketing and sales activities,” said the minister.
Such visits are also aimed at facilitating trade by Iran’s private sector in neighboring countries and tackling issues impeding business activities.
According to Fatemi Amin, Iran and Armenia also agreed on launching Infrastructure projects in Armenia.
“During the meetings with Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan and the Armenia deputy PM, we made preliminary agreements on a range of issues such as building dams and roads by Iranian companies in Armenia,” the Iranian minister said.
“We agreed on building a transit road to complete the infrastructure projects in Armenia in the long run. Iranian companies will also participate in the relevant tenders,” he noted.
Iran has already announced its readiness to cooperate with Armenia in the construction of a new transportation route (Kajaran-Sisian road).
The 64-kilometer long route is part of the Iran-Armenia-Georgia Transportation Corridor which comes as part of Iran’s bid to launch the North-South Transport Corridor.
The International North-South Transport Corridor is a 7,200 kilometer long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road routes for moving freight between Iran, India, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia, Central Asia and Europe.
It is aimed at boosting trade connectivity among the regional as well as ultra-regional states.
Iranian and Armenian officials also agreed on cutting transit tariffs as part of the joint effort to boost bilateral trade.
“Regarding transit of goods, we had two short-term and long-term agreements with Armenia. We agreed to slash tariffs for transit trucks in short term,” Fatemi Amin said.
The Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran share a 44 km border.
The value of Iran-Armenia trade stood at $304 million during the last Persian calendar year (March 21, 2020- March 20, 2021), with both sides planning to beef up bilateral trade.