Vahan Kerobyan: For the first time in history of Armenia, trade  volumes to exceed GDP

ArmInfo. Trade relations with Russia are important for us - we are developing them, but at the same time we are spending enormous resources, time and effort to diversify foreign trade relations in other areas. Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told reporters during a briefing on October 31.

In this regard, he pointed to the high potential of Armenia's  cooperation with the countries of the Persian Gulf, Asian region, and  Europe. In particular, Kerobyan, as an example, said that trade  turnover with the UAE over the past 2-3 years has grown 10-fold,  amounting to about $1 billion. "We think that by the end of the year  it can reach from $1.5 billion to $2 billion," he said. At the same  time, the head of the department pointed to the high growth rates of  trade with a number of European countries, in this regard mentioning  Germany, France and the Netherlands. "It is very important for us  that existing ties are strengthened and developed, but we are working  in all possible directions," he emphasized.

At the same time, the Minister of Economy noted that in terms of  trade in goods and services, Armenia will exceed the volume of GDP  for the first time. "This is the first time something like this has  happened in the history of Armenia," he stated.

According to the Statistics Committee, Armenia's foreign trade  turnover in Jan-Sept 2023 amounted to 5.3 trillion drams ($13.7  billion) with a slowdown in y-o-y growth to 47.2% (from last year's  62.5%). This is due to the slowdown in y-o-y growth of both exports -  from 63.8% to 48.5%, and imports - from 61.6% to 46.4%, the absolute  value of which amounted to 2 trillion and 3.3 trillion drams ($5.2  billion and $8.5 billion), respectively.

Russia is traditionally the leading trade partner of Armenia, the  share of which accounts for 34.7% of trade volume, compared to 34% a  year earlier. In particular, during the reporting period the volume  of trade turnover amounted to $4.2 billion with a y-o-y growth of  56.3%.

The growth of economic activity in Armenia in Jan-Sept 2023 slowed to  9.7% per annum (from last year's 14.1%).