Thursday, July 13 2023 14:57

ArmInfo. In the extraordinary  session of July 13, the National Assembly debated the draft law on  ratifying the Agreement concluded in the form of exchange of bids on  the establishment of local offices of the German Agency for  International Cooperation (GIZ) LLC and the Credit Institute for  Reconstruction (KFW).

As the RA NA reports, RA Deputy Minister of Economy Rafael Gevorgyan  noted that the above-mentioned companies have been operating in  Armenia since the beginning of the 2000s, but until now they did not  have legal status, they operated under embassies.  Certain technical  issues have arisen in connection with the activities of these  companies:  import of property and equipment, payment of taxes, etc.  The Deputy Minister clarified that the process should have been  regulated by a bilateral agreement years ago, but it has been delayed  for some reasons.

The Deputy Minister presented details on the development of effective  Armenian- German cooperation, mentioning that many new initiatives  are being debated. Since 1995, there is a rich legal contract base,  Germany has made investments in Armenia equivalent to about two  trillion AMD. At the moment, the active portfolio of KFW Bank in  Armenia is about 650 million EUR. GIZ mainly carries out activities  within the framework of grant activities, very important work has  been done for the development of the private sector over the years  and now it is actively supporting our country.

Regarding the questions of the deputies Arsen Torosyan, Artsvik  Minasyan, Tsovinar Vardanyan and Sergey Bagratyan, the Deputy  Minister provided clarifications, stating that Germany is Armenia's  first partner in the EU framework in terms of trade turnover, more  than two trillion investments were made in our country during the  previous years. "I can't say why these agreements were not signed,  but it is a fact that it hindered the development of our relations,"  Rafael Gevorgyan said and added that the agreement does not establish  new privileges, the existing relations are regulated.

In response to the MPs' questions about delaying or obstructing the  process of adopting the agreement, the Deputy Minister of Economy  said that the process started 12 years ago, and since then the German  Government has repeatedly announced that these agreements are  important to them. Edgar Hakobyan spoke about the endorsement of the  Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs.

The National Assembly adopted the draft law.

The planned opening of permanent offices of GIZ and KfW in Armenia  was announced in the summer of 2022 during a joint press conference  of Vahan Kerobyan and Svenja Schulze, ederal Minister for Economic  Cooperation and Developmen of Germany.. Negotiations on opening local  offices in Armenia lasted 12 years. On March 2 this year, the press  service of the Ministry of Economy reported that the agreement on the  exchange of notes on opening local offices in Armenia was signed by  Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan from the Armenian side, and German  Ambassador to Armenia Viktor Richter from the German side.

And already on May 4, the Armenian government approved the RA draft  law "On Ratification of the Agreement on the Establishment of Local  Offices of the German Society for International Cooperation LLC (GIZ)  and the Reconstruction Credit Bank (KFW)".