Friday, October 19 2018 16:01

ArmInfo. Chinese investors are planning to invest $ 35-50 million in the production of gas turbine generators in the ''Alliance'' free economic zone in Armenia. This  was announced by the President of the Russian Foundation "Strategy"  Metso Igityan during a press conference in Yerevan on October 19.

In the future, as expected, the volume of investments, as well as the  areas of cooperation, will be expanded. According to him, a  delegation of entrepreneurs from Beijing, Macau and Hong Kong has  been in Armenia for over a week. "The result of their stay was that  the Head of the Chinese delegation and Head of the international  direction in a large consulting association in China, which unites  280 thousand enterprises, Mr. Qian (Wei Min Qian) decided to stay in  Armenia, open an office here, since there are already specific ideas  regarding tourism, light industry, machine tools and metalworking,   "he said.

More specifically, according to the Vice-President of the Russian  Foundation "Strategy" Samvel Asmaryan, following the results of the  first weekly study tour in Armenia, today there is an agreement to  launch the production of gas turbine generators in the territory of  the ''Mars'' plant in the ''Alliance'' FEZ. The planned investment  will be from $ 35 million to $ 50 million, the project will open  about 700-1000 jobs. Turbines will be shipped to approximately 30-40  countries, including Iran, African countries, to the USA, Turkey,  Australia. The volume of annual sales of turbines, which, as experts  have assured, will allow saving up to 30% of hydrocarbon fuel, in the  future can be measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.

There are no specific deadlines for the project implementation  everything is at the design stage. Most importantly, according to the  initiators of the project, an agreement has already been reached. In  general, as Igityan pointed out, preparation - documentation and  design, as well as the start of production will take about 2.5-3  years.  As the Head of the ''Alliance'' FEZ Arsen Sarkisyan informed,  the process of registration of this company in the FEZ has already  been launched. By the end of the year, the government is expected to  approve this application. Later the initiator of the project will  resolve technical issues. The day before, as he stated, the Ministry  of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia confirmed its  readiness to assist this project. "Armenian legislation promotes  investment," said Mr Wei Min Qian.  ''On the territory of the  republic there are FEZs where it is possible to develop profitable  production''. Already today, as Qian pointed out, Chinese investors  are showing interest in the fields of construction, tourism,  renewable energy, the creation of waste recycling enterprises, the  construction of subways and railways, green cities and the production  of electric buses.

Metso Igityan also reminded about the project "One Belt - One Way",  of which Armenia is a part. Under the initiative, China is interested  in the participation of Armenia, primarily as a logistics chain.  "Armenia is the gateway to Iran with its 80 million population and to  the Eurasian space. Our Chinese friends are also interested in the  Meghri free economic zone. They want to create an exhibition and fair  center where Chinese companies will be able to present their  products," he said. According to the head of the Russian Strategy  Foundation, in Armenia it will also be possible to organize the  production of Chinese products. At the next stage, the discussion  will deal with the acquisition of technologies, licenses and the  production of its own products and technologies. There are great  prospects in the field of blockchain, Smart City projects (smart  cities).

In order to facilitate cooperation between the authorities of Armenia  and Chinese investors, a working group will be set up.