YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said imports from the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member countries, China, as well as from Georgia and the European Union should replace imports from Turkey, which the government will ban starting from December 31.
The six-month ban on imports of Turkish-manufactured goods was imposed during the recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Turkey, which supplied arms to Azerbaijan and deployed terrorist mercenaries to the conflict zone.
“These new markets are quite attractive and in the near future we will have a lot of good news from them,” he said.
Kerobyan said that he had had many meetings with economic entities, which earn their income by bringing goods from Turkey.
“Our message is very simple: the money that goes from Armenia to Turkey becomes bullets targeting our soldiers. I could say that 99% of our business people support the ban,” he said.
On the Armenian economy, Kerobyan noted that despite the fact that the outgoing year has been very difficult, life goes on.
“We have multi-billion investment programs with investors ready to invest their money and our overarching task now is to bring these programs to the market as quickly as possible,” he said.
“It is the local investors who are actually promoting the economy, and they are full of great hopes for the future of Armenia. The implementation of their projects will also stimulate the arrival of foreign investors,” he said.
The minister also spoke about the measures designed for the businesses affected by the war in Artsakh.
“Now, together with our Artsakh colleagues, we are conducting an inventory of all those companies that have lost their businesses as a result of the war. The Armenian government will make investments there to help not only restore the Artsakh potential, but also ensure its fast development,” he said.
In conclusion, Kerobyan confirmed his earlier forecast of a two-digit economic growth of the Armenian economy in 2021.
“I see a lot of unrealized opportunities that are on the way, and in the near future will become programs that will change people’s lives,” said the Minister of Economy.
Kerobyan said earlier that the ban on the import of Turkish goods to Armenia would open a $200 million niche in the domestic market.
According to government data, Armenia imported $178 million worth of Turkish goods in January-October 2020, 15% down year on year.
According to official figures, Armenia imported $69.4 million worth clothing, $10.3 million worth citrus fruit, $35.2 million worth cars, equipment and mechanisms (electric heaters, refrigerators, etc.), $24.3 million worth oil and oil products, $23.6 million worth chemicals and $21.6 million worth base metals.