“Ready to Extend Economic Ties with Iran,” Says Tumanyan

In a press conference in Iran, Artashes Tumanyan, the Armenian ambassador, dropped the news of holding a special exhibition hosting 90 Armenian companies in the permanent location of exhibitions of Tehran.

As AVA Diplomatic reports, the Armenian diplomat went explanatory on the economic status of his country stating the exhibition hosts Armenian producers and manufacturers, “The exhibition is held in cooperation with Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mine and Commerce in a location of two thousand square meters and with over 90 participants from Armenia.”

Tumanyan referred to food industries, gold making, medical and pharmaceutical equipment, textile, leather and IT as major fields of participation adding, “There are delegates from three important banks, credited insurance companies, compressor manufacturers, leather industries and shoemaking companies.”

Mentioning that since 2013, Armenia has been a member of the WTO and owns an open doors policy in a way that customs tariffs are reduced to zero or almost nothing, the Armenian ambassador maintained that his country keeps up with global fine standards in IT, gold and jewelry section.

“There are three free zones in Armenia which are tax-free and one of them borders closely with Iran,” reiterated Tumanyan while breaking the news about the removal of visa issuance between the two countries. He also insisted that the two sides do not possess a thorough understanding of each other stating, “Holding such exhibitions in Tehran provides both Iranian and Armenian businessmen and merchants with opportunities to have face-to-face interactions.”

The Armenian diplomat clarified that out of the $300mn of trade with Iran, a major proportion of it goes for Iranian products exported to Armenia. Artashes Tumanyan stressed the skilled, reliable workforce and reasonable payments as upsides of investing in Armenia supplementing, “If one intends to set up a firm in Armenia, it will take a maximum of 15 minutes to receive a permit, which is the fastest by records.”

Addressing the political relations between Iran and Armenia, Tumanyan explained, “Our ties have constantly been on excellent, strong trends and Armenia has offered its support of Iran’s stances over the past 24 years.” Artashes Tumanyan made a remark over his country’s support of Iran in the times of sanctions further saying, “Iran is a vast country with enormous potentials. Even when Iran adopted a tone not on the same line with ours, we tried our best to keep the balance with it.”

On a note to the gas and electricity trades between the two countries, the Armenian ambassador to Iran underlined, “The potentials of the gas pipelines from Iran to Armenia counts for nearly $2.2bn of which we are currently using a mere 15%.” He further reasoned, “Currently, the export of gas is carried out in return for the import of electricity, which, considering only two lines of transfer, it cannot be heightened for the time being. But as a result of the credit offered by the Export Development Bank, the Iranian side is building the third line, in which case the trade shall rise even more.”

Tumanyan continued, “As of 2015, Armenia became a Eurasian member along with Russia, Belarus and Kirgizstan, and the only country Iran shares ground borders with is Armenia. So if it intends to dig into Eurasia, it has to work it through Armenia.” Reminding the media of Eurasia’s population of 180 million, he proceeded, “Armenia bridges the gap between Iran and Eurasia and in addition, it inked special agreements with Europe and its products are produced at a low-detriment rate.”

The Armenian ambassador to Iran reminded that the Armenian embassy holds intimate ties with all Iranian economic institutions exchanging info with 34 chambers now while not yet having a comprehensive understanding of one another.

On his note on cultural exchanges and works, Tumanyan stated, “2 years ago, we exhibited some of what there is in Armenia’s museum at the Musée du Louvre and drafted an MOU with Iran which shall bear fruit soon enough.” He also underlined, “The objective is to link the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea using high standards. A country such as Iran can simply access the Black Sea through Armenia and Georgia.”

Talking of provincial cooperation, Tumanyan emphasized, “Armenia has taken the initiative to not limit cooperation to Tehran. We have had meets with governors, mayors and chairs of chambers of commerce on our trips to Esfahan and Qazvin.”

Speaking of economic ties between Iran and Yerevan, the Armenian ambassador added, “The two countries have substantial economic achievements in their trophy rooms. Iran is one of the four close neighbors and friends to us with huge economic infrastructures. However, the balance of trade is not high enough and last year’s trades would barely cross $300mn.”

Criticizing the sketchy knowledge the two countries have of one another, Tumanyan stressed that the role of the media is immense in compensating the deficiency.