Armenia, Iraq to expand trade, technical and scientific cooperation  

The joint Armenian-Iraqi intergovernmental commission concluded its two-day session in Yerevan in the signing of a bilateral protocol expressing a mutual commitment to boost trade-economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

The bilateral document, co-signed by and between David Lokyan, Armenia’s minister of territorial administration, and Falah Hassan Zaidan, the Iraqi minister of agriculture, reflects the two countries’ desire to upgrade the partnership to a new level.

The Armenian and Iraqi officials, who act in the capacity of commission chairpersons, highlighted the mutual interests in a range of areas, including investments, turnover, IT and the banking sector. They also outlined steps towards developing cooperation in education, youth affairs, oil industries, culture and healthcare.

According to a press release by the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the sides especially stressed the need of facilitating freight transportation through land corridors.

Minister Lokyan described the two-day event as a good opportunity to address unique trends, which he said are expected to secure an effective outcome in the course of future activities.

“Those trends are highly tangible and real, so we are sure to secure outcomes in case of even the lowest activity. The top issue, which the commission clarified, addressed the cooperation between the two countries. Iraq proposes that we operate a permanent exhibition in [capital] Baghdad to raise a higher awareness of our products across the country. There has also been a proposal for our participation in a fair later this year,” he said, thanking the commission members for an active contribution to the effectively developing partnership.

The Iraqi minister, for his part, highly appreciated the commission's consistent work, describing the signed document as a key tool comprehensively addressing all the sectors. “Our delegation includes employees from all the ministries, so we are hopeful that next year we’ll bring to life all the outlined clauses,” he added.

After the signing ceremony and the speeches by the ministers, the two countries’ ambassadors, and government representatives delivered their addresses.