Armenia and Iran will make every effort to increase mutual trade volume to $3 billion, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.
"My Iranian counterpart and I have confirmed the aspiration to increase mutual trade volumes first to $1 billion and then to $3 billion a year,' Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian, saying this goal was set by an agreement reached between Armenian Prime Minister and Iranian President.
According to Armenia's National Statistical Committee, the trade turnover between the two countries in the first 10 months of this year amounted to $566.7 million, increasing by 0.2% compared to January-October 2022.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs considered the signing of the agreement on the extension of the "Gas for Electricity" project to be an important achievement of the year, and expressed hope that tangible progress will be made as a result of joint steps, and the construction works of the third Iran-Armenia power transmission line will be completed.
"In our discussions today, we emphasized the need for the full operation of the international transport routes connecting the North-South road corridor and the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, and in this regard, also in terms of the participation of Iranian companies in the economic life of Armenia, we gave importance to the involvement of Iranian companies in the construction works of the 32-kilometer Agarak-Kajaran road section," said the Foreign Minister.
The two ministers also discussed the Crossroads of Peace project put forward by Armenia, the purpose of which is the restoration and development of regional communications: railways, pipelines, highways, power lines, cables.
"It is key for us that the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity, and equality of countries are the basis of this process.
Dear Mr. Abdollahian, we are happy to note that the policies and approaches adopted by Armenia and Iran regarding the full exploitation of regional communication channels are completely consistent, and in this regard we emphasize the clear position of the Republic of Iran regarding the territorial integrity, inseparability of the borders, and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia - a matter that has been demonstrated by Iran more than once," he said.
