Armenia is a shared market of 170 million people after joining EEU – President Sargsyan

Armenia’s domestic market is no longer 3 million people – it’s a shared market of 170 million in the Eurasian Economic Union, President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview for a special edition on Armenia of Gulf News and Global FDI Reports.

“In my view, every investor looks at three aspects in order to make a decision: human capital, consumption of goods and business environment. Our domestic market is no longer 3 million people – it’s a shared market of 170 million in the Eurasian Economic Union. There is also a market of 80 million in Iran, which is next door to us”, he said.

The Armenian president said that in terms of human capital, the country enjoys a comparative advantage in terms of the educational and professional advantages of the population.

“Furthermore, we have tens of thousands of people who consider Arabic to be one of their native languages. These are people who repatriated to Armenia from the Middle East. Throughout the Syrian crisis, we have received more than 22,000 Syrian-Armenians who had to leave their country. They have settled in Yerevan and in other regions and given a nice touch to the city, establishing numerous small enterprises, restaurants and cafés. This is also an important contributing factor to our development. We have always been at the juncture between the west and the east – we have been west for the east and east for the west,” the president said.

“Location is another of Armenia’s advantages. We are well aware that dozens of planes are landing at UAE airports on a daily basis, transporting food, fruit, beverages and other items. They are arriving from faraway regions and flying for 10 to 11 hours. From Armenia to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, it’s just a two-and-a-half hour flight. We have an opportunity to provide this market with the best agricultural goods – meat, vegetables and other foods”, the Armenian President added.