Armenia and Iran aim at bringing trade turnover to $3bn.

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YEREVAN, 6 November. /ARKA/. Armenia and Iran are looking at the possibility of bringing bilateral trade turnover to $3 billion, Ali Beman Ekhbalizarch, head of the Eurasia Studies Department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Centre for Political and International Studies, said./pp 'The friendly relations between Armenia and Iran have gone through many stages, and in the recent period we have witnessed dynamic growth in various directions, including in the areas of politics, economy and security. After 2020, the trade and economic turnover between the two countries has increased 2-3 times and reached $700 million,' he said on Armenian Public Television./pp

Ekhbalizarch noted that President Pezeshkian's government considers cooperation with neighbours as a priority./pp ‘In this context, the South Caucasus has always been in the spotlight as a political and cultural civilisation and an alternative territory for Iran's access to the Black Sea,’ he said./pp

Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan noted in late September that the trade turnover between Armenia and Iran, having recorded a sharp increase, exceeded $700 million in 2023./pp nbsp;According to him, there is an intention to raise this figure to $1bn in the near future and later to $3bn./pp

According to Armenia’s National Statistical Committee, the foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Iran in the first 9 months of the current year exceeded $520 million, increasing by 2.2% compared to January-September last year./pp

Exports reached $81.2 million with a 7.7% growth, while imports totalled about $450 million with a 2.4% increase. -0-/p