Author’s post

According to Ambassador of Armenia to Iran, efforts are made to increase Iran-Armenia annual trade volume to one billion US dollars, due to the need to increase the volume of trade between these two countries.
As Ambassador Arsen Avagyan said in his Friday evening meeting with the governor-general of East Azarbaijan Province, Iran’s neighboring provinces with Armenia have great importance for his country. Establishment of a consular office in Tabriz has also been requested.
Avagyan said that the Armenian side is ready to have face to face meetings with foreign merchants and businessmen, and West Azarbaijan province merchants and officials are invited to visit Armenia’s Syunik Province.
Araks border river has also been mentioned by Ambassador Avagyan due to its significant importance for both Iran and Armenia. The question of environment protection arose, and one of the mines has been shut down till required moves will be made to eliminate the environmental hazards.
According to the Ambassador, buying the manufactured goods in East Azarbaijan Province is among Armenia’s priorities, as it is the closest transit route for Armenia.
That province is quite ready for boosting trade with neighboring countries, including Armenia, as the governor of East Azarbaijan Province said, and he emphasized that increasing interactions with neighboring countries is one of the basic policies of the 13th Government, and the provinces have the required authorities for the purpose.
According to Abedin Khorram, increased trade and business between the two provinces of East Azarbaijan and Syunik is quite favorable for Iran.
The supreme scientific status of East Azarbaijan Province in Iran has also been referred to, and province’s readiness for establishment of a joint science and technology park, which can be turned into a regional export hub, has been announced.
Khorram underlined the great importance of Araks River for Iran, and therefore major steps to control the entry of mining sewage water into it are expected from Armenia.

Source Link

The recent appreciation of the dram and the dollar depreciation (the contracts for export are mostly signed in dollars) has become a problem for companies exporting from Armenia. The price of raw material has also increased because of inflation. Logistic problems have also appeared.
The USA is the main export destination of Armavir Fruit processing agricultural goods (canned fruits and vegetables, dried fruits). According to the company founder Hayk Manukyan, the fluctuation of the foreign currency and the appreciation of the dram is their main problem at this moment. Luckily, state assistance programs helped people to build orchards, greenhouse farms and to increase the volumes.
He says that any problem is automatically transferred to rural people, who are not able to process that volume under dram appreciation. The price changes very little over the years. If it increases, a market will be lost.
Dollar decreasing by around 20% makes exporting some goods unprofitable for the company now. Exports continue in spite of financial loss in order to save the market.
According to logistic company Spinnaker Group co-founder Norayr Gevorgyan, the fluctuation of the foreign currency is a problem for all exporters. The worst thing is that the dram appreciation happened immediately.
The calculation of the prices in the field of cargo transportation in dollars makes price increase as most of the expenditures in Armenia is in drams.
The opinion of the Central Bank, expressed by CBA Governor Martin Galstyan, is that serious problems will be caused by the artificial depreciation of the dram, for example, a new inflationary wave that will impact all citizens of Armenia, including exporters.
The Upper Lars border checkpoint regular shutting down because of bad weather and major queues there are also a problem for exporters. Armenian cargo trucks suffer most of all.
Russia also imports Armavir Fruit goods, but not much. According to Hayk Manukyan, major agreements with the partners of the Russian market will be signed soon. It makes the problem of Lars checkpoint very relevant, taking into account imports made for reprocessing.
Contracts make Lars very important for each exporter. If it is not solved, reserves in Russia are necessary in order to fulfill the contract.
According to Spinnaker Group co-founder Norayr Gevorgyan, there have always been problems with Lars checkpoint in every season, but this year the major flow of vehicles from other countries which cannot travel to Russia via Europe supplemented this difficulty. Lars served as an alternative route for them, but it couldn’t serve so many cars.
The exports of apricots stopped this year, because queues made it impossible to pass Georgia quickly.
They expect to launch a ferry communication to mitigate the problem of Lars. They are delaying the launch previewed for June 15th because the permission has not been granted by the Dutch company, the Poti port operator, yet, and it has also imposed sanctions against Russia. This measure will not solve the problem completely, as a ferry can’t transport all the goods exported from Armenia.
Inflation affects many countries. According to Hayk Manukyan, the decline of foreign currency doesn’t make the prices fall. The economy could be negatively affected by the dram depreciation from inflation perspective. He proposes to support exporting companies.

According to Spinnaker Group founder Norayr Gevorgyan, the fluctuation of a foreign currency is a global problem and does not depend on Armenia only. It makes exporters suffer, and it is necessary to provide a respective approach to them.
Without compensation, the situation will become very difficult for suffering sectors. They should provide a sectoral assistance to exporting companies, having contracts in dollar.

Source Link

According to the Kazakh Ministry of Trade and Integration press service, Kazakhstan – Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) trade turnover reached $10 billion in January – May this year (4.8 percent up compared to the same period of the previous year ($9.5 billion).
The decrease of exports from Kazakhstan to the EAEU countries attained 0.9 percent ($2.9 billion) in January – May. Iron ore concentrates, hot rolled steel and cold rolled steel and ferrous metals were included. Simultaneously, the supply of aluminum oxides and hydroxides, unprocessed zinc, ferroalloys, and rolling stock components has increased.
At the same time, an increase of imports from the EAEU countries to Kazakhstan by 7.3 percent ($7 billion) has been observed in the first five months of this year. The majority of the imported goods were made up by copper ores and concentrates, sunflower seeds, wheat, zinc concentrates, semi-finished products of non-alloy steel, mineral and carbonated water and nitrogen fertilizers.
Kazakhstan’s non-primary goods trade turnover with EAEU countries attained $8.1 billion (6.2 percent up compared to the same period in 2021 ($7.7 billion).
An increase by 13.6 percent ($2 billion) was shown by exports of non-primary goods from Kazakhstan to the EAEU countries, while the growth of imports of processed goods to Kazakhstan from the EAEU countries reached 4.1 percent ($6.2 billion).

Source Link

According to the Kazakh Ministry of Trade and Integration press service, the trade turnover of non-primary goods of Kazakhstan in January – May 2022 attained $25.3 billion (20.4 percent up compared to the same period of the previous year ($21.0 billion).
QazTrade, center for trade policy development under the Ministry of Trade and Integration, reported that the increase of non-primary goods export from Kazakhstan reached 34.7 percent in five months ($9.7 billion).
The export growth has been contributed to by a significant increase in the supply of non-raw materials such as ferroalloys, uranium, copper, sulfur, and unprocessed zinc.
The supplies of wheat or wheat-rye flour drastically increased by 86 percent, as well as oxides and hydroxides aluminum – by 89.2 percent.
At the same time, the average boost of the import attained 12.9 percent ($15.5 billion). An increase in the import of such non-primary goods as automobile bodies, medicines packaged for retail sale, ferrous metal products, parts, accessories for cars and tractors, engines internal combustion with spark ignition, telephones, and air conditioning units drives its growth.
The ministry reports that Kazakhstan’s main trading partners in non-primary goods are Russia (export – 17.9 percent, import – 37.2 percent), China (export – 19.9 percent, import – 23.5 percent) and Turkey (export – 7.5 percent, import – 2.9 percent).

Source Link

According to Yan Wenbin, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Moldova, a quick development of commercial partnership between China and Moldova took place. The volume of trade between the two countries increased from only 70,000 dollars in the beginning of the establishment of the diplomatic relations, 30 years ago, to 849 million dollars in 2021. As a result, China became the fourth big commercial partner of Moldova.
The ambassador said that more and more Chinese consumers appreciate the Moldovan wine, so China is now one of the principal export markets for it. The export of Moldovan wine to China is actively promoted by China’ Embassy, along with Chinese and Moldovan partners. A live broadcasting on the promotion and sale of Moldovan wines took place on the Douyin platform not so long ago, at an initiative by the Embassy of China in Moldova, and it had favorable results.
The head of the Chinese diplomatic mission says that China is willing to import also other highly qualitative farming products from Moldova, being the biggest consumption market of the world. The entrance on the Chinese market of the edible vegetable oil and peeled walnuts from Moldova has been approved. The ambassador is quite aware of the fact that the Moldovan farming products have temporarily lost some traditional export markets, because of the conflict in the region. The access of more and more Moldovan agricultural products to the Chinese market is being actively stimulated be The Embassy of China.
According to Yan Wenbin, China has always provided, as far as it was possible, support for the social and economic development of Moldova as a good friend and partner. The photovoltaic power station from Criuleni, constructed with the support of the Chinese government and put into operation in the beginning of this year, represents the most recent example. A special importance of this project is especially significant in the context of the energy crisis in Moldova. Besides, the project of Chinese Medicine Centre, the third phase, carried out with the support of China, which will be soon implemented, has been officially approved by the Moldovan government.

Source Link

An article on signing an agreement on the creation of the largest logistics cluster in Uzbekistan has been published by a leading UAE news agency The Emirates News Agency (WAM).
The leading place in the UAE in the field of international trade, logistics and industry belongs to AD Ports Group. One of the largest oil and gas companies in Uzbekistan is Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (SEG).
The launch of a joint venture to open new businesses in the field of logistics and cargo transportation by AD Ports Group and SEG is noted in the article. The development of logistics infrastructure and services in Uzbekistan and the entry of Uzbek products, in particular SEG products, to the world market will be accelerated by this step.
According to AD Ports Group Chairman Falah Mohammed Al-Ahbabi, the strategic partnership between UAE and Uzbekistan will be strengthened by this agreement. He also said that they were pleased to direct the experience and resources of the AD Ports Group to solve the main logistical problems and use the opportunities available in the country. The Chairman added that AD Ports Group can contribute to unlocking the country’s broader economic potential by creating new value chains and opening up new trade routes. They will use the potential effectively to create economic hubs and logistics centers in the opening of a specialized food hub, inland ports and warehouses.
According to Bakhtiyor Fazilov, director of SEG, the agreement will have a significant impact on economic growth in Uzbekistan, and it will help to create new jobs and open up new opportunities for trade and development.
Statistics show that Uzbekistan is a major producer of key export commodities, including oil, natural gas and gold, as well as the second largest exporter of cotton in the world. The new joint venture will make it possible to bring a wider range of Uzbek products to the global market.
WAM concludes that the SEG development vector aimed at building a vertically integrated oil and gas company that will be able not only to extract and process hydrocarbon raw materials into high value-added products, but also to supply these products to anywhere in the world thanks to creating trade corridors, is continued by this partnership with one of the largest global leaders in the field of logistics.

Source Link

According to Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission (PS IGC) TRACECA Asset Assavbayev, harmonization and easing of customs procedures has always been one of interests of TRACECA countries.
This statement was made during the first virtual workshop on customs issues along the routes (Europe-Caucasus-Asia).
The press service said that the harmonization and simplification of customs transit procedures, also mechanisms for systematic exchange of information between customs authorities were discussed by the Secretary General and the member countries of the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia Corridor (MLA) TRACECA.
According to the press service, the support and the simplification of customs procedures at border crossings and seaports along TRACECA in order to facilitate the movement of goods were the main objective of the seminar.
They also mentioned that multimodal transport through the territory of several countries, accompanied by modal shifts, characterizes TRACECA routes connecting Europe, the Caucasus and Asia.
Additional processing time is required for goods transportation through border crossings and seaports in TRACECA transit countries. Certain formalities related to paperwork and customs procedures are also needed for modal shifts.
According to TRACECA, the issues of permanent interest to its member states, which are striving to improve communication along the whole Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor, are harmonization and simplification of procedures generally, improvement of the efficiency of customs transit regimes, simplification of customs formalities, optimizing of border crossing operations and improvement of the efficiency of seaports.
The need to simplify traffic and reduce border crossing times, which is important for the attractiveness of TRACECA corridor routes, was also noted by Assavbayev.
He said that one of the most important issues to be addressed in order to improve border crossing efficiency were customs procedures at border crossings and seaports, and the goal of facilitating international transport along our route can be significantly contributed to by the exchange of experience and harmonization of policies related to the implementation of international customs transit systems.
An overview of customs transit systems along TRACECA routes was proposed to be developed, and a meeting between member countries to be organized to gain access to a common transit convention. The research and consideration of simplified customs transit procedures in more detail was the result of the last seminar.
They also proposed the usage of advance cargo information, also the development of mechanisms for the systematic exchange of information between customs authorities in selected TRACECA countries (where such mechanisms currently do not exist) during the last seminar. The second workshop on customs issues in October 2022 will give the opportunity to discuss all these topics further.

Source Link

According to the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy company’s office in Baku, railroad transportations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan increased more than 3.5 fold in January-May 2022 against the same period in 2021.
1,388,100 tons of cargo was transported between JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and CJSC Azerbaijan Railways (increased by 1,088,800 tons or by 364% compared to the same period in 2021).
Grain shipment made the volume of exports to Azerbaijan rise by 128,300 tons or 6.1-times. The shipment of oil products and ferrous metal caused the growth of transportation through Azerbaijan by 884,600 tons, or 13.5 times. An increase in the transportation of chemicals and soda made imports to/through Azerbaijan rise by 72,800 tons or by 115%.
Growth of foodstuffs transportation made transit transportations rise by 3,100 tons or by 2%.
The Azerbaijani Center for Agrarian Research announces that in January-May 2022 export of Kazakhstan’s grain to Azerbaijan made 146,900 tons and amounted to $49.1mln.
The increase of the volume of exports amounted to 2218.4%, and to 2834.4% in monetary terms, compared to January-May 2020 (6,300 tons).
The rise of the share of Kazakhstan’s grain in Azerbaijan’s imports amounted to 41.1%.

Source Link

According to Nenad Popovic, the minister in charge of innovations and technological development, the latest issue of the regular annual report of the American organization Startup Genome highlights the excellent results of the Serbian startup ecosystem.
Serbia was announced to be a world leader in attracting foreign direct investments per capita.
The website of the Government of Serbia emphasizes on the increase by 600% compared to the previous year in 2021 (local startups had attracted over USD 135 million in investments) and on the realization of over USD 1.7 billion in tech-sector export revenues.
According to the minister, the extraordinary work of Serbian engineers, innovators, technical faculties, private initiatives such as the Digital Serbia, legal and strategic acts adopted by the state in the preceding five years, as well as other systemic measures of the government and its institutions and organizations made the positive trend in the development of the innovation ecosystem of Serbia possible.
This report says that the adoption of the Strategy of the Development of the Startup Ecosystem from 2021 to 2025 is one of the most important steps forward, aimed to accelerate the development of the startup ecosystem and incite innovations.
The upgrade of the infrastructure and support programs, the affirmation of entrepreneurial education on all levels is entailed by this. 1,200 active startups in Serbia is the overall goal.
They rate gaming and the blockchain sector as the strongest ones in the ecosystem of Serbia. Over 2,200 people were employed by the gaming industry in 2012, and the income close to EUR 200 million was realized by it.
So, Nordeus’ becoming part of Take Two is especially important. It has also made Serbia a top destination for the development of blockchain-based products.
The amount of USD 58.6 million was precisely the one of the most noticed investments received by the blockchain development platform Tenderly.
The high level of activities and the development of programs and organizations which provide support to local startup teams, such as the Group of Business Angels, founded by the Digital Serbia Initiative, were recognized as the main advantages by the report.

Source Link

A meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development and several freight operators was held yesterday. The flow of traffic at border crossings, the liberalization of road freight transport with the European Union and the price of road transport permits was discussed during this event.
The institution claims that in order to reduce the waiting time for freight trucks at border crossing points, rapid measures to streamline traffic and unblock the situation at customs were taken by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development (MIDR) together with the relevant authorities.
According to MIDR, they have set up a joint group to coordinate the actions of the Moldovan and Romanian authorities at border crossing points in order to reduce waiting times for lorries; the Leușeni-Albița border crossing point is the first customs point of the Moldovan-Romanian joint team; the Romanian side operationalizes the customs control with the help of several electronic document processing devices; they organize the flows of goods according to the load. For example, empty trucks may cross in transit through low-capacity crossing points.
They have also increased the number of customs workers to raise the processing rate and the customs activity’s efficiency; they synchronized the work schedule between the control teams from the Republic of Moldova and Romania and made the phytosanitary and sanitary-veterinary authorities in Romania operate on a 24/7 basis; special services check and present the status of the functionality of scanners, scales and other truck scanning and checking technologies at each border crossing point.
The minister mentioned a decrease of the price of road transport permits to 5 euros. CEMT authorizations will cost 150 euros for an annual authorization and 40 euros for a monthly authorization.
The participants also discussed the liberalization of bilateral freight and transit services between EU member states and the Republic of Moldova during the meeting. According to Andrei Spinu, an Agreement between Moldova and the EU MIDR is being negotiated about. It will enter into force provisionally from the time it is signed, possibly at the end of June.

Source Link