Tuesday, January 23 2024 15:38
Alina Hovhannisyan

Vahan Kerobyan: Germany is most interested in Armenia`s energy  sector, construction of reservoirs, infrastructures

Vahan Kerobyan: Germany is most interested in Armenia`s energy  sector, construction of reservoirs, infrastructures

ArmInfo. Germany today is most interested in Armenia's energy sector, the construction of reservoirs and infrastructure; programs for the SME sector are also being considered. Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan announced in an interview with Public Television, summing up the results of his recent visit to Germany.

In addition, he noted that the German side was interested in the  project for the construction of the Dry Port industrial park in  Gyumri in the context of the participation of industrial enterprises  from Germany in it.  Holding meetings with various business  associations during his working visit to Germany, the minister also  pointed out the high interest of the latter in the Armenian market.  In this regard, he said that business delegations from Germany are  expected to visit Armenia soon.

Speaking about the current level of cooperation and results, Kerobyan  noted that the German development bank KfW is today the largest  financial organization in Armenia, which took on additional  obligations during the last meeting of the Armenian-German  intergovernmental commission in the fall of 2023.  "Our main job is  to ensure that those loan agreements that have been concluded begin  to be implemented.  We are talking about several hundred million  euros. And their implementation should lead to tangible economic  results. The Germans are very interested in the implementation of  loan agreements, as are we," the Minister of Economy said.

According to the RA Statistics Committee, foreign trade turnover  between Armenia and Germany in January-November 2023 amounted to  $586.9 million, which exceeds the year-ago figure by 29.1%. At the  same time, exports decreased by 15.9% to $82 million, while imports  increased by 41.4% to $504.9 million.

Based on the results of 9 months of 2023, the net flow of investments  from Germany into the real sector of the Armenian economy reached a  positive level, amounting to $1.9 million, of which $780 thousand is  FDI.

The lion's share of German investment is in the machinery and  equipment sector, with a small amount directed towards the production  of tobacco products. At the same time, Germany has reduced  investments in the production of basic metals, the provision of  electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning, software development,  consulting and related activities in the field of IT.