ArmInfo. Right after joining EEU Armenia faced a number of key difficulties related to not only devaluation of the national currencies but also to the complicated mechanism of VAT reimbursement and low-traffic capacity of the Upper Lars. However, these issues are being settled gradually, Ara Nranyan, member of the Board (Minister) of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), said during the V Eurasian Economic Forum "Orenburg 2015."
As the press-service of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) reports, Ara Nranyan talking about the plans and prospects of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) informed that currently EEC is working on simplifying the mechanisms of VAT reimbursement, which will have positive impact on the mutual trade of all the Union countries. "At the same time joining the Union has also positive results for Armenia, in particular the country's agricultural products export in the Union countries mainly to Russia has increased, a favorable investment environment has been formed, due to Armenia's membership in EEU and perspectives of cooperation with Iran, besides, the interest toward Armenia has increased among tourists from the Union countries', Nranyan said.
According to the EEC Minister, integration is the establishing of a new competitive economy, ensuring growth of citizens' welfare. "It is important to build an economy, which will be competitive on the world market rather than on the domestic one", Nranyan emphasized, noting that it is necessary to remove barriers in the mutual trade, to reduce the number of required documents in the turnover within Union. Nranyan noted that no country can develop in isolation from the integration processes all the more if partner countries have social and economic problems. According to him, for further development and rapprochement, new fields of cooperation should be touched upon, which will unite the economies of the member countries and the citizens. New strategic projects are needed. "Among such projects in the EEU southern direction the construction of the Iran-Armenia railway and opening of railway connection with Russia through Georgia should be prioritized, Nranyan thinks, also the construction of the South-North Road Corridor in Armenia should be finished, which will connect the Union countries with Iran ports in the Persian Gulf. The EEU eastern direction priority is participation in the Silk Road Economic Belt project. Such large regional projects with several countries and investors' involvement will create new opportunities for growth, new directions of development, which in their turn will lead to qualitative changes in the structure of our economies", Nranyan said.
Armenia became a full member of the EEU on Jan 2, 2015. The agreement on Armenia's accession to the EEU was signed in Minsk on 10 October 2014. The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union takes into account the principles of sovereign equality of the parties and their territorial integrity, as well as the national interests of the EEU member states. The treaty implies freedom of movement of commodities, services, capital and workforce, implementation of coordinated or single policy in economic sectors stipulated by the treaty and international agreements within the EEU.