President invited a meeting on the agenda of the Armenian-German economic cooperation

Today, the President of Armenia received a report of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Federal Republic of Germany Ashot Smbatian on the agenda of the Armenian-German relations and particularly on its economic component, ongoing bilateral programs and achievements as well as the current issues. Considering that fact that soon the President of Armenia is planning to conduct an official visit to Germany and this year the Armenian-German intergovernmental commission will conduct its regular session and a business forum, Serzh Sargsyan was reported on the preliminary works on these events. Present at the meeting were the Head of the Armenian-German Friendship Group of the RA National Assembly Artak Davtian, the Co-Chair of the Armenian-German intergovernmental commission on financial and technical cooperation, Minister of Finance Gagik Khatchatrian, Minister of Economy Artsvik Minassian, Deputy Foreign Minister Robert Harutyunian, high officials of the Presidential Administration.

“Germany is our number one trade partner among the countries of the European Union: in last 5-6 year the turnover have been registered between 350-450 million USD, which is not bad. There are dozens of companies with German capital functioning in Armenia which certainly bring their contribution to the development of our country. I believe in the area of industry the most important and one of the most successful projects has been our cooperation with Chronometer which is a shareholder of the Kajaran copper and molybdenum factory. All these years, Chronometer has been a reliable partner for us, and we have been able to work with the company on increasing the production volume and creations new jobs. It is also one of the largest employers in Armenia which has always been fulfilling its duties regarding the state budget scrupulously, which has always been a trustworthy, responsible, one of the largest taxpayers. For us, this ought to be a perfect example of cooperation in the economic area. Now, we also present ourselves as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union which gives us a new opportunity to invite them to make investments in Armenia and view the EEU area as a market. A number of enterprises are already functioning in Armenia with this understanding. First, I would like to know what we can do to increase the number of enterprises, because the Germans possess high technologies in almost every area of production. Certainly in Armenia too there are entrepreneurs they can become partners with them and on a later stage be responsible for the sales of their production. I think the most important area for us should be the introduction of German technologies into the Armenian industry and production area. There are already some vivid examples. It is very desirable for us to totally reequip our enterprises with such machinery. Another important area in which we unfortunately do not have impressive results but which is extremely important for us: I am talking about Hermes company which is promoting exports of German goods. In presence of normal business programs it can provide great assistance. Actually, the mentioned machinery can be acquired through leasing, which means favorable conditions for our businessmen. On this we have a preliminary agreement, and we have to work hard in this direction.

I believe the German Development Bank – KFW is a very important partner for us. We have been cooperating with them for almost 20 years and it has played simply the indispensible role in Armenia’s economic development. Hundreds of representatives of small and medium enterprises have received grants. Our entire program on small hydropower stations has been realized through the funding of the KFW bank. Our cooperation should undoubtedly continue. The most recent instance of such cooperation was the construction of the Armenia-Georgia high voltage 400 KW power line in the framework of the Caucasian Power Lines program which will make our energy system much more stable, secure and profitable. It is a very important program and will have of course its second, concluding phase to provide us with a contemporary system.

Of course, technical assistance provided by the Germans is very important to us. They are factually our second largest donor after the United States. In the past, Germany has donated hundreds of millions dollars to Armenia as technical assistance and no doubt this cooperation should go on. I would like to know if there are German companies which in Armenia have certain problems or need our assistance. This is one. Second, soon I will make a visit to the Federal Republic of Germany and of course I am aware that this year there will be a Business Forum and a session of the intergovernmental commission. I would like us to speak about these issues in detail and of course to separate political aspect from the economic. We have registered considerable progress in the political area as well, however at this point I am more interested in the economic cooperation,” President Serzh Sargsyan said at the beginning of the meeting.

Ambassador Ashot Smbatian presented the current stage of the Armenian-German trade and economic relations, dynamics of development, ongoing and future programs in a number of mutually beneficial programs such as information and telecommunications technologies, tourism, health care, education etc., possibilities for cooperation as well as works carried out by the Embassy of Armenia in Germany in these areas. “Mr. President, as you have already mentioned, with regard to exports, Germany is among the leaders in the world, one even may say is the first in the world and the fifth largest economy. Today, the lion’s share of Germany’s GDP belongs to the area of services. Industry makes only 25 per cent of the GDP. Lately, a certain geographical shift, especially in the area of services of the German economy has become noticeable, and I believe it happens because companies are now created based on the principle of outsourcing; their works are conducted outside Germany, in other countries. With this regard, we have things to do, particularly in the area of information technologies, in which the German side also has interest. In the process, we have been able to conduct negotiations with the German companies Siemens, Sap and Lufthansa so that in the framework of geographical shifts Armenia too becomes a possible and attractive market,” said Ambassador Ashot Smbatian.

At the conclusion of the meeting, President Serzh Sargsyan gave the participants and relevant agencies instructions related to the discussed issues, problems, and programs.