ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
July 14, 2017 Friday


Armenian President is not satisfied with the level of
Armenian-American economic cooperation

Yerevan July 14

Mariana Mkrtchyan. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan held today a
meeting devoted to the development of the Armenian-American relations.
ArmInfo was informed about this in the press service of the Armenian
leader.

Armenian Ambassador to the United States Grigor Hovhannisyan reported
to the President on the activities of the Armenian Embassy aimed at
implementing a number of short-term and medium-term goals in some
promising spheres, current Armenian-American programs, achievements,
and targeted cooperation directions.

At the meeting, the Armenian President noted that over the 25 years
since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries
have established successful cooperation in many key areas. "Since the
moment of Armenia's declaration of independence, the United States has
provided us with consistent support. The volume of American technical
and humanitarian assistance over these years reached $ 2 billion. The
United States assisted Armenia in carrying out numerous reforms.
Unilateral assistance is gradually evolving into economic cooperation,
and about 800 enterprises with American capital operate in Armenia
today," the Armenian leader stressed.

As a successful example, Sargsyan noted the sale of the American
company "Contour Global" of the Vorotan cascade of HPPs - one of the
largest energy assets in the republic. The deal amounted to $ 180
million. As the President noted, serious investment is also made by
Lydian International, which is developing the Amulsar gold deposit,
located in the Syunik region.

Nevertheless, Sargsyan is convinced that the current level of
cooperation is not satisfactory, since there is a great potential for
developing the dialogue, taking into account the economic power of the
United States, the readiness of this country for further enhancing
cooperation and the presence of a large and influential Armenian
community in the United States.

After the meeting, the Armenian President gave appropriate instructions.

To note, according to the National Statistics Service, the foreign
trade turnover between Armenia and the US in January-December 2016
amounted to $ 126.9 million, with an annual decline of 21%. Export - $
38.8 million with an annual decline of 26.7%, and imports $ 88.1
million, with an annual decline of 18.2%.