ArmInfo. Armenia can help make new markets for Belarusian products. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian expressed such an opinion in an interview with the STV channel.
According to him, Belarus has excellent dairy products. "These two days I, without stopping, try dairy products, ranging from kefir, sour cream, cottage cheese and all the others, very high quality, excellent products. Beef In Belarus, is very high-quality. So it seems to me that we can cooperate, Belarus and Armenia. Armenia can help Belarus not only in imports, that is, by buying products for the domestic market, which is 3.5 million, but products can go further through Armenia. That is, we can help make new markets for Belarusian products. And vice versa "Armenia President noted.
At the same time, he stated that Armenia also has products that it can export by itself, for example, brandy, and special fruits - like apricots. "I tried, apricots here. Apricots here and in Armenia are different. The apricots are imported; they are removed, when they are still more or less green, so that they reach Belarus, Europe or Moscow. And real apricots have different qualities and the task is to make their transportation more efficient so that the quality is not lost, " Sarkissian said.
Answering the question about increasing the volume of commodity turnover, Sarkissian assured that for him 50 million is not only not the limit, not even a line, because he sees a potential that is several times much higher than what is between the two countries.
According to the President of Armenia, the potential is in such a direction as new technologies, where bilateral cooperation can be very effective and can exceed the current figures many times, reaching hundreds of millions of US dollars. "Another sector is the food security sector. Armenia is a small country, but it has certain agricultural food products that are of high quality. Accordingly, they occupy a certain place in the market. I don't want to talk about many things. I can give you an example of Armenian brandy that all people know. Brandy is the most financially efficient. Secondly, there are very interesting markets not far from Armenia: they are not small - they are large, to which we have potential access. The quantity and quality of our products is limited. Armenia by definition cannot become an exporter of beef, "the Armenian President assured.
Another initiative, according to Sarkissian, at the level of presidents is to help their producers, whether state or private farmers, to food and agriculture workers in order to create the way to new markets and help them realize their products. "It seems to me that we have great potential in this area. So, 50 million American dollars is absolutely not the limit," the head of the RA said.
It is possible to make a forecast for the next five years to clarify, taking into account the projects that were discussed during the visit, Sarkissian stated that it is possible to predict, calculate today's markets, production volumes, where to go further. "But the realities of life will move much faster. Therefore, both of us need to be ready today to start this cooperation, open up channels of relations with universities, IT specialists, farmers, and those involved in food production, to be ready for further expansion of scale, "the RA President assured.
The President also stressed that Armenia's experience in Belarus in the field of cooperation, creation of joint ventures is interesting. " I will not talk about other sectors. In sectors - in IT, in artificial intelligence, and in the food part - if we find the right markets, the right products, then yes. Why not? Why can't Armenian businessmen invest in Belarus? There is no reason for this. If there is a product, the market, Belarus is a stable, predictable country, where so many things in management are very simple. Simple - in terms of efficiency. No need to lose a lot of time for registration. I don't have much time for registration. And the approach of the country's leader is very appealing to me, because MR. Lukashenko. is a direct person. Always all our conversations, discussions of the red line is the interest of the Belarusian people and the state is therefore to work with Belarus would be easier, " the RA President summed up.
It should be noted that according to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, the foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Belarus in 2018 was $ 50.3 million with an annual growth of 9.1%. At the same time, exports amounted to $ 11.7 million, an increase of 66.5%, imports - $ 38.6 million, a decline of 1.2%.