Tehran, Iran, Dec. 15
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said that Iran plans to use all its capacities to increase bilateral relations with Armenia.
"The two sides' trade relations have been reduced significantly in the past two years, but now all the obstacles are removed," he said, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on Dec. 15.
He made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 12th Iran- Armenia Joint Economic Commission.
Chitchian and his Armenian counterpart Yervand Zakharian chair the two-day event, which kicked off on Dec. 15.
The two sides are expected to discuss ways to expand cooperation in electricity as well as technical and engineering sectors.
At least three memorandums of understanding for construction of dams and power plants will also be signed during the meeting.
Iran and Armenia have taken major strides towards widening and deepening of their relations in recent years, particularly in the economic sector.
According to Iran's Commercial Attaché in Yerevan Hamaiak Avadis Yanes, the trade turnover between the two neighboring countries hit $293 million in 2013.
Armenia was the 28th biggest trading partner of Iran in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014, according to the Iran Customs Administration.
Iran exported $105.6 million worth of non-oil goods to Armenia and imported $28.9 million worth of non-oil goods from the country.
In October, Chitchian and Zakharian in a meeting in Tehran voiced their countries' willingness to enhance bilateral relations, particularly in the energy exchange sector.
During the meeting, Chitchian said that there has been good cooperation between the two countries over the past two decades in the field of energy.
He said the two sides agreed to launch the third energy transfer line between Iran and Armenia and construction of two hydro-electric power plants on both sides of the Aras River.
Edited by CN