Armenia, India discuss India`s possible participation in Dry Port  project

ArmInfo. Armenia's Deputy Minister of Economy Narek Teryan had a meeting in Mumbai with  Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India Shantanu Thakur. Attending the meeting was Iranian Commercial Attache in Armenia Vardan Kostanyan.   

The parties discussed the possibility of Indian participation in the  Dry Port project in the Shirak region, problems with logistics, as  well as issues related to increasing trade volumes between the two  countries.

A Dry Port or an industrial park with a special economic zone is  planned to be built in Gyumri on the territory adjacent to Shirak  Airport, which will also border the railway and the "North-South"  highway.

The Dry Port is designed as a multifunctional and multimodal hub to  serve those local and international companies that require an  operational procedure to consolidate customs processes, which can  help reduce the latter's operating costs. As the Minister of Economy  previously reported, according to the planned goals, the newly  created industrial park "Dry Port" in Gyumri will provide 3% of  Armenia's GDP.

Charle Malas, Advisor to Armenia's Minister of Economy and authors of  the Dry Port concept, said the cost of the project is over $100mln. 

According to customs data, in the first half of 2023, Armenia  exported goods worth $19.3mln to India, with a decline of 72.4% over  the year. At the same time, the customs value of import supplies  increased 2.1 times to $1.4mln.