ARMENIA: PREPARING FOR TURKISH TRADE

As Turkey and Armenia ponder ratification of a pact that would reopen their mutual border, Armenian customs officials are preparing for an influx of Turkish goods. 

Thee chairman of the Armenian parliament’s Committee for National Revenues, Armen Alaverdian, said during a legislative session November 5 that customs checkpoints are preparing to handle goods exported from Turkey, the Kavkazsky Uzel news website reported on November 5. Current trade turnover between Turkey and Armenia amounts to some $100 million, according to data from the Armenian-Turkish Business Development Council. 

Given the lack of direct trade routes, goods must travel via Georgia or Iran. Armenian economic analysts said the reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border could generate as much as an additional $500 million in revenue for Armenia’s treasury, Kavkazsky Uzel reported. Source:eurasianet.org