ArmInfo. Economic relations between Armenia and Iran are at a high level, and in order to maintain and deepen them, it is necessary to intensify practical actions to increase trade turnover and expand areas of cooperation. This was stated by the Minister of Economy of Armenia Gevorg Papoyan during a meeting with the delegation of the Majlis (Iranian parliament), headed by the head of the IRI-RA friendship group Ara Shahverdyan. The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani and the head of the RA-IRI parliamentary friendship group of the National Assembly of Armenia Narek Babayan.
As reported by the press service of the Ministry of Economy, the interlocutors discussed the most promising areas of bilateral cooperation. In this context, particular importance was attached to expanding the possibilities of interaction in the fields of industry, agriculture, and tourism.
The Minister briefly presented the instruments of state support in the economic sphere and expressed readiness to stimulate the process of implementing foreign investment projects in the Republic of Armenia. Gevorg Papoyan emphasized the importance of organizing regular business forums to develop ties between the businesses of the two countries, implement joint programs in the future and establish close cooperation.
In order to raise awareness of the tourism potential of Armenia and Iran and stimulate the growth of tourist visits between the two countries, it was proposed to organize familiarization visits for media representatives of the two countries.
The parties also touched upon the possibility of opening a representative office of Armenia in the Iranian port of Chabahar.
It should be noted that according to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Iran in January-November 2024 increased by 5.2%, amounting to $661.5 million. At the same time, exports increased by 13% to $99.3 million, against the background of import growth by 3.9% to $562.2 million.
In the period from January to September 2024, the share of Iranian tourists visiting Armenia accounted for 9%, which is 13.1% lower than the figure for the previous year. In total, during this period, the number of tourists vacationing in Armenia exceeded 1.7 million people.
Iran intends to connect its ports located in the Gulf of Oman (Chabahar Port) and the Persian Gulf (Bandar Abbas, Imam Khomeini and Khorramshahr ports) in the south of the country with ports located on the Black and Caspian Seas through the Iranian railway network. Connecting the Gulf to the Black Sea will connect four key sea basins, namely the Gulf of Oman, the Caspian Sea (Iran-Azerbaijan), the Black Sea (Georgia, Bulgaria) and the Mediterranean Sea (Greece). In the South Caucasus, Armenia is the only country that is a member of the EAEU and, therefore, serves as a direct bridge between Iran and the bloc, which clearly underlines the importance of the Persian Gulf-Black Sea international transport and transit corridor for Iran. Back in March 2021, the Indian Ambassador to Iran said that the country was going to include Armenia in the North-South Transport Corridor being created through the Iranian port of Chabahar. In August of the same year, at the Indian Embassy in Armenia, Acting Foreign Minister Armen Grigoryan stated that Yerevan was closely monitoring India's active involvement in the North-South International Transport Corridor project and India's interest in developing the port of Chabahar, and was ready to participate in the work to implement this program. In May 2023, by the decision of the Prime Minister, an interdepartmental working group was created in the Republic of Armenia to consider the launch of an international multimodal high-speed route and the implementation of operator activities in the Iranian port of Chabahar. In June of the same year, the head of the Ministry of Economy Vahan Kerobyan announced that Armenia could become an operator in the Iranian port of Chabahar.
