ArmInfo.The interim agreement on a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran will have a positive economic impact for all EAEU countries, Acting Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan said on October 22 at the opening of the Eurasian Week-2018 forum in Yerevan.
According to him, the agreement opens up new perspectives for the business of the Eurasian Economic Union, for which a huge market opens up with 80 million people and with a high level of consumption. "If we model business correctly, then, given the preferential treatment of Armenia with the EU countries, Canada, the USA, and Japan, a tremendous effect can be obtained. The business community of the EAEU countries should study this issue to develop bilateral relations," he said. Mher Grigoryan reminded that a free economic zone operates on the Armenian-Iranian border, the presence of which presupposes receiving certain economic dividends.
He believes that after the ratification process is completed, certain trade processes will begin and it is Armenian enterprises that will start using the first regime preferences. The business community of the union will also begin to gradually get involved in the process. "Both export and import potential is large, it is necessary to take into account the possibilities of combined cooperation. The main impact is to get not only from bilateral relations, but also from the combined interaction between the Union, Iran and the EU," he concluded.
To recall on May 17 this year on the platform of the Astana Economic Forum between the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran, an interim agreement on the formation of a free trade zone was signed. The parties agreed to reduce import customs duties in mutual trade for a period of 3 years, while Iran granted tariff concessions on 246 goods, and the EEU for 175 goods. For Iran, the customs duties on insensitive goods for the EEU will be reduced: pistachios, dates, figs, raisins, shrimps, melons, oranges, lemons, limes, confectionery, some types of juices, paints and varnishes, dishes, detergents, carpets, products from plastic. For products of the main export interest of Iran (apples, tomatoes, cucumbers), the EEU provides only seasonal concessions in the absence of production from November to March. On average, as the Chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan noted, the duties for Iran on industrial goods will decrease by 7%, and for the EEU countries - by 3.3%. For agricultural goods, the average level of import duty rates for Iran will decrease by 19%, and for the countries of the Union - by 5%."It is very important that this agreement in the legal format be consolidated in our countries and, of course, in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The free economic zone, first of all, is an additional link connecting our economies. This not only reduces logistics costs, but also provides an opportunity to organize complementary production. That is, the logic is that manufacturers from Iran will import raw materials into this zone, receive new products and without bureaucratic complicated procedures already enter the market of the Eurasian Union, "commented the signing of Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan during the Astana Economic Forum. In his opinion, this process will also stimulate the creation of the international transport transit corridor "Indian Ocean - Persian Gulf - Black Sea". This will be an additional impetus for the development of cooperation with Vietnam, with which an agreement has already been signed, as well as with India and other countries with which negotiations are being actively conducted.