The signing ceremony, held online on Tuesday, was attended by senior officials from the two sides including the ISIPO Head Ali Rasoulian and Armenian Ambassador to Iran Artashes Toumanian, IRNA reported.

The development of bilateral cooperation, offering appropriate solutions for resolving trade issues, promotion and improvement of mutual investment and creation of an operational framework to strengthen and develop stronger trade relations between the two countries were reported to be the main goals of the mentioned MOU.

Speaking at the ceremony, Rasoulian expressed hope that considering the expansion of economic and industrial cooperation between Iran and Armenia, the two countries will take serious measures for promoting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and for the establishment of joint industrial parks.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in the production and distribution of wealth in the economy, and therefore the governments need to strengthen small industries,” Rasoulian said.

Mentioning that 92 percent of Iran’s industrial sector is comprised of small and medium-sized enterprises, the official said: “we have successful experiences at the government and private sector levels in this field and try to provide the necessary infrastructure and a competitive environment for such enterprises by applying supportive policies.”

“So far, more than 900 industrial parks and zones have been put into operation in Iran and nearly one million people are working in 48,000 industrial units active in these parks,” he added.

Rasoulian further expressed hope that the two sides would improve the level of cooperation with the aim of implementing previously reached agreements and facilitating cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries which would lead to the creation of joint industrial parks.

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As reported, the officials underlined the significant growth in the level of trade between the two countries and stressed the need for planning to further develop cooperation within the framework of the preferential trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and achieve the desired level of bilateral trade.

Speaking in the meeting, Zadboum referred to the two countries’ deep cultural, historical, and political relations and stated: “The Trade Development Organization of Iran is ready to hold a meeting of the [two countries] joint industrial, mining and commercial working group in order to identify obstacles and problems facing bilateral trade and to take appropriate and effective decisions to address them.”

He further expressed satisfaction with the holding of Iran’s exclusive exhibition in Armenia earlier this month and noted that holding such events in the two countries and the exchange of trade delegations is necessary to better introduce export capabilities and to exchange information related to the needs of the two markets.

Zadboum also pointed to the removal of non-tariff barriers and reduction of logistics and transportation costs, along with the expansion of the scope of the preferential trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU, as important factors in increasing the level of trade relations between the two countries and called for addressing such subjects in the joint working groups.

Simonyan for his part welcomed the holding of a joint working group on industry, mining, and trade as soon as possible, and announced his readiness to hold expert talks during the meetings of the joint working group between the two countries.

***Stressing joint investment

The Armenian deputy minister also met with Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, in which the two sides stressed the need for boosting joint investment in various sectors.

In this meeting Shafeie noted that Iran and Armenia could become good trade partners among the EAEU members.

Mining, livestock and agriculture, textiles, clothing, construction, technical and engineering services, as well as transportation and transit were among the areas mentioned by the officials for mutual cooperation.

Back in January, Iran, and Armenia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the expansion of trade ties between the two countries.

The MOU was signed by Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Alireza Razm Hosseini and the Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan in Tehran.

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As reported by the TCCIMA portal, the event was attended by government officials from the two sides including TCCIMA Head Masoud Khansari and Head of Armenia’s state revenue committee Edvard Hovhannisyan, Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Artashes Toumanian as well as the representatives of the two countries private sectors.

The attendees of the seminar explored ways of increasing the level of trade between the two countries and stressed the need for taking necessary measures for the facilitation of economic interactions between the two countries’ private sectors.

They also addressed some of the barriers and issues on the trade of Iranian commercial and manufacturing companies with their Armenian counterparts.

Speaking in the meeting, which was organized by the Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with TCCIMA, Hovhannisyan announced his country’s readiness for facilitation of cooperation between the two sides to improve the trade relations between Iranian and Armenian companies.

He also announced his country’s decision to reduce customs duties on Iranian trucks entering Armenian territory, noting that Iranian trucks will have no problem crossing Armenia and entering Georgia and then Russia.

Before the seminar, the Armenian officials had also held a meeting with the TCCIMA head to discuss ways of expanding trade and economic relations between the two neighbors.

In that meeting, Khansari mentioned the free trade agreement signed between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and noted that Armenia is the only member of the union that shares a land border with Iran.

He called the development of economic relations between the two countries a big step for Iran and Armenia’s presence in third markets.

Khansari further expressed dissatisfaction with the current level of trade between the two countries and noted that Iran and Armenia have great potentials for boosting their economic transactions.

Referring to the establishment of specialized desks for promoting trade with some of the neighboring countries in TCCIMA, the official announced the establishment of an Armenian desk in this chamber with the cooperation of the two countries’ Joint Chamber of Commerce in the near future.

Hovhannisyan for his part described the seminar on Iran and Armenia trade opportunities as the first serious step in the development of economic relations between the two countries and said that the Armenian state-run and private sectors welcome any measure to improve mutual trade relations.

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