IMPORT FROM TURKEY TO ARMENIA MAY INCREASE BY NO MORE THAN 30% WITH OPENING OF BORDER

ArmInfo
2009-09-23 12:49:00

ArmInfo. Import from Turkey to Armenia may increase by no more than 30%
with opening of the border, Director of the Union of Industrialists and
Businessmen of Armenia Gagik Makaryan told ArmInfo when commenting on
the economic consequences from possible opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border.

He also said one should hardly expect long-term growth of consumption
of the Turkish goods because of their low price. ‘If too much number
of goods enter the market, part of them will remain unclaimed even
if they are cheap. It’s another matter that the Turkish goods may
displace the cheap Chinese or South-Eastern Asian goods because of
the lower transportation costs.

However, the market laws and not some advantages of the Turkish goods
will work here’, G. Makaryan said. He thinks one should hardly be
afraid for sharp competition of the Armenian and Turkish goods. ‘The
economy of Turkey is not among the modern and upgraded ones, and
its industrial production has low competitiveness. We have a similar
situation in Armenia: a great number of enterprises in our country have
a low or average upgrading level. So, extra-high competition is almost
impossible because of a similar level of the economies’, Makaryan said.