INDO-ARMENIAN BUSINESS

The Hindu Businessline, India
Nov 9 2006

There are several potential areas of trade with Armenia where Indian
businessmen can either invest or set up joint ventures, says Harshad
R. Mehta, honorary consul general of Armenia in Mumbai and promoter
of the Rosy Blue and Orpa Group of Companies, which have been doing
business in Armenia for the past 35 years.

A diamond entrepreneur with offices in 15 countries, Mehta
celebrated the Consulate’s first anniversary with an exhibition
of rare photographs at a Diwali gala, which was attended by Armen
Baibourtian, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia,
and Ashot Kocharian, Ambassador of Armenia in India.

Indo-Armenian relations go back a long way: 2,500 years; the commercial
relationship between the two countries dates back to the medieval
period, the first recorded visit being that of the Armenian trader
Thomas Cana who came to the Malabar coast in 780 AD.

As of last year, some 50 firms operated in Armenia with Indian capital
and investments of about $1.1 million. The total trade between India
and Armenia in 2005 amounted to $15.8 million (exports from India,
$15.5 million and imports to India, $0.3 million). Next on the anvil,
says Mehta, is an Indo-Armenian Chamber of Commerce.

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