India, Armenia to sign investment protection treaty

Friday, 23 May 2003, 19:30 IST   |    1 Comments
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NEW DELHI: India and Armenia will sign an agreement Friday for protecting investments in both countries as part of their efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment. "The two countries would sign a treaty on the Protection and Promotion of Investments tomorrow to give a boost to bilateral trade ties," Ara Gevorgian, Armenian Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development, announced here Thursday at interactive meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). During the meeting, FICCI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia to promote, improve and develop the economic relations and investment between the business communities in both countries. Heralding the start of a formal cooperation between the two industry bodies, the agreement is expected to boost Indian trade but also help Armenia, located east of Turkey, attract more foreign investments. Lauding India's support in the IT sector, Gevorgian said similar cooperation would be welcome in other sectors of the economy. Asserting the need for exchange of information between businessmen, Gevorgian invited Indian industry to participate in Expo Armenia in September to facilitate better interaction between the business communities. Anil Wadhwa, joint secretary in the external affairs ministry, highlighted the critical areas for cooperation between India and Armenia including IT, light engineering, agriculture, science and technology and health care. Pointing to the lack of direct air service links, Wadhwa said this would be rectified in the near future. He also observed that Armenia would benefit immensely with the opening up of the North-South Transport Corridor that would link India to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) via Iran.
Source: IANS
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