ARSEN GHAZARIAN: NO BOOM OF TURKISH INVESTMENT EXPECTED IN ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.NET
11.09.2009 16:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In case of opening of the Armenian-Turkish border
Armenia will restore its status as a transit country, the chairman of
Armenia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Arsen Ghazaryan
said.
"Armenia has always been a crossroad of the international trade,"
he said. In this regard, chairman of the Union added that Armenia
can begin to provide transit services to its neighbors, particularly
to Georgia, enabling the latter to reduce its budget expenditures
twice. According to him, that economic harmonization between the
two countries Iran, Georgia, as well as Central Asia, Syria, Turkey
would benefit.
Opening of the border would enable to reduce transport costs for
exported Armenian products by 20 -25% in some directions. However,
according to Arsen Ghazaryan, neither investment boom, nor a huge
influx of Turkish capital is expected in Armenia, "because the markets
of Armenia and Turkey should get used to each other.""Certainly,
the 5-10 per cent increase in import volumes will be observed, but
I do not think this is a big threat to local producers," he said.
The trade turnover between the two countries in different years
ranged between $ 50 and 100 million, and for 2008 it amounted to
85-86 million .