According to the Armenian service of RFE/RL, the finance ministers of Armenia and Iran expressed their hope to further increase of economic exchanges between their countries, taking into account a recent growth in bilateral trade, during their meeting in Tehran.
The meeting between Armenia’s Finance Minister Tigran Khachatrian and Iran’s Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs Ehsan Khandozi took place in Tehran.
The main subject of the visit of Khachatrian and his delegation to Iran that took place one week after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visited Tehran where he met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, was mainly regional security, but they also discussed prospects of increasing bilateral trade between the two neighboring countries.
According to Khachatrian, the volume of economic exchanges between the two countries is expected to grow by over 40 percent in 2022.
Several economic priorities between the two countries were highlighted by the Armenian and Iranian ministers, particularly, raising annual bilateral trade to $3 billion, increasing the goods exchange volume to 5 million tones, as well as the facilitating and developing financial, banking, commercial and customs relations.
According to the Armenian minister, they held productive and constructive discussions during his first-ever visit to Iran. “Constantly developing and strengthening cooperation” between Iran and Armenia was also highlighted by him.
Khachatrian said that the history of economic and political relations between Iran and Armenia has been lasting for decades. These main foundations are testified by the goal of raising the level of commercial relations between Armenia and Iran to $3 billion a year. This longstanding cooperation between the two countries is the basis of all ongoing negotiations.
The Iranian minister replied that “the government of Iran is very closely following the economic policy run by neighbor countries, putting the focus on the Caucasus region.”
Khandozi expressed his hope for the fulfillment of the goal of carrying out 3 billion dollars’ worth of trade between the countries, discussed during the meeting of the Iranian president and the Armenian prime minister, under the leadership of this government.
A meeting between Khachatrian and members of his delegation, including his deputy Avag Avanesian, and Iranian Vice President Masoud Mir Kazemi took place during the visit to Iran, and the meeting with Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin was planned.
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