Sunday, September 29 2019 22:17

ArmInfo. The governments of Armenia and Singapore should create comfortable conditions for entrepreneurs of the two countries to enhance business contacts,  mutual trade and investment.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan at a  joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien  Loong, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit, who has been in  this position for about 15 years. The parties noted the  unsatisfactory level of economic partnership between the two  countries due to the lack of interstate contacts, which they intend  to make up for by signing a bilateral agreement on services, trade  and investment during this visit. According to the estimates of the  Statistics Committee of the Republic of Armenia, according to the  results of 2018, the foreign trade turnover between the countries  amounted to only 2.7 million US dollars, 680 thousand dollars of  which amounted to Armenian exports to Singapore. Nevertheless,  according to the Armenian Prime Minister, Armenia has something to  offer the people of Singapore and opposite Singapore to Armenia.

The development of economic relations, as noted by the heads of the  two states, will be facilitated by the signing of the Agreement on  comprehensive economic cooperation and free trade between Singapore  and the EAEU during the summit of the heads of state of the countries  of the economic union, which will be held in Yerevan on October 1-2.

Nikol Pashinyan expressed satisfaction that these agreements will be  signed during the chairmanship of Armenia in the EAEU.

Pashinyan recalled that his official visit to Singapore in July this  year provided an excellent basis for adding new content to relations  between countries. The Memorandum of Understanding in the field of  culture signed at that time has already yielded concrete results.  According to the Armenian Prime Minister, it is planned to organize  Armenian Days in Singapore next year, which will be marked by a  number of cultural events. This will increase the level of  recognition and awareness of citizens of both countries, give new  impetus to the development of human contacts and lead to the  activation of tourism. The further the countries are from each other,  according to Pashinyan, the more interesting they are for each other  from the point of view of the tourism industry.

The head of Singapore, in turn, made a short excursion into the  Armenian trace of the history of his country. According to him,  relations between the two countries originate in the 19th century. In  Singapore, there is a small but notable Armenian community that has  made a significant contribution to the development of Singaporean  society. In Singapore, there is an Armenian street and a church,  which is the oldest church - one of the national monuments and is  protected by the state. Interestingly, the flower symbolizing  Singapore (Vanda Miss Joaquim) was created by artist Agnes Hokkaim,  who was born in Singapore and was of Armenian origin.

Touching upon the agreements to be signed on Tuesday in Yerevan, the  Prime Minister of Singapore noted that this could pave the way for  closer cooperation between the EAEU and ASEAN countries (Association  of Southeast Asian Nations).