EU considers changes in Armenia as a breakthrough
25.09.2018,
15:37
The changes that have taken place in Armenia are viewed by the European Union as a serious breakthrough, the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Piotr Switalski, said on Tuesday at the first meeting of the Committee on Trade-Related Cooperation between Armenia and the EU in Yerevan.
YEREVAN, September 25. /ARKA/. The changes that have taken place in Armenia are viewed by the European Union as a serious breakthrough, the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Piotr Switalski, said on Tuesday at the first meeting of the Committee on Trade-Related Cooperation between Armenia and the EU in Yerevan.
He said the EU notes that those priorities are important for the Armenian government, which are used as levers for establishing new trade relations, in particular, fighting against corruption. He said corruption is everywhere a problem for investors and eliminating it will give Armenia guarantees that partners from the European Union will be more interested in starting business in Armenia.
The second important direction, he said, is to ensure the independence of the judiciary. "This is a serious tool that gives the investor a sense of security, and we believe that these priorities, which the government approved, meet the needs of development of trade and investment," said Switalski.
Armenian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Maneh Adamyan told journalists that the meeting will discuss a string of issues related to trade between Armenia and the EU. Adamyan noted that there are a number of problems in this area, singling out the problem of the quality of the infrastructure.
Petros Surmelis, the head of the department of the European Commission's Directorate for Trade, in his turn, noted that the planned reforms in Armenia will ensure level playing field for all. He said the main goal is that companies that are wholly or partly state-owned should enjoy equal conditions with private companies, in particular, state-owned companies must not have advantages, and priority must be given to new innovative companies.
Also, Surmelis noted that the new Armenia-EU agreement opens new opportunities and this year, both exports and imports between Armenia and the EU increased compared to last year, and the trade turnover exceeded 1 billion euros.
Armenia's foreign trade with the EU in the first 7 months of 2018 amounted to $1.065.7 billion dollars (an increase of 36.1%).
On June 1, 2018, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Armenia, EU and the European Atomic Energy Community", ratified by the Armenian Parliament on April 11, partially came into force.
Armenia is the first member country of Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union that signed CEPA agreement with the European Union. The agreement will fully enter into force after it is ratified by all 28 EU member states and Armenia. At present the document has been ratified by Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania. -0-
He said the EU notes that those priorities are important for the Armenian government, which are used as levers for establishing new trade relations, in particular, fighting against corruption. He said corruption is everywhere a problem for investors and eliminating it will give Armenia guarantees that partners from the European Union will be more interested in starting business in Armenia.
The second important direction, he said, is to ensure the independence of the judiciary. "This is a serious tool that gives the investor a sense of security, and we believe that these priorities, which the government approved, meet the needs of development of trade and investment," said Switalski.
Armenian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Maneh Adamyan told journalists that the meeting will discuss a string of issues related to trade between Armenia and the EU. Adamyan noted that there are a number of problems in this area, singling out the problem of the quality of the infrastructure.
Petros Surmelis, the head of the department of the European Commission's Directorate for Trade, in his turn, noted that the planned reforms in Armenia will ensure level playing field for all. He said the main goal is that companies that are wholly or partly state-owned should enjoy equal conditions with private companies, in particular, state-owned companies must not have advantages, and priority must be given to new innovative companies.
Also, Surmelis noted that the new Armenia-EU agreement opens new opportunities and this year, both exports and imports between Armenia and the EU increased compared to last year, and the trade turnover exceeded 1 billion euros.
Armenia's foreign trade with the EU in the first 7 months of 2018 amounted to $1.065.7 billion dollars (an increase of 36.1%).
On June 1, 2018, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Armenia, EU and the European Atomic Energy Community", ratified by the Armenian Parliament on April 11, partially came into force.
Armenia is the first member country of Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union that signed CEPA agreement with the European Union. The agreement will fully enter into force after it is ratified by all 28 EU member states and Armenia. At present the document has been ratified by Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania. -0-
