YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan was in Rome on September 27-28.

On the first day of his visit, he met with Italy’s Economic Development, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Corrado Passera, and Foreign Trade Agency Head R. Monti.

Davtyan presented Armenia’s current business climate and the Government’s measures taken to encourage foreign investments, MFA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The Minister also reflected on Armenia’s already-existing and planned free economic zones, and noted that once the EU-Armenia Free Trade Agreement is signed, Armenia will be in an economically very advantageous position.

The parties noted that the level of trade turnover between Armenia and Italy is insufficient because there is a greater potential for economic cooperation. And, in this connection, Davtyan stressed the need to establish an Armenian-Italian Intergovernmental Commission. 

The interlocutors also discussed cooperation in several domains. 

On the same day, Armenia’s Economy Minister also met with Italy’s Tourism and Sport Minister Piero Gnudi. They pointed to the growing number of tourists visiting one another’s countries and underscored the need to increase tourism and encourage investments into the tourism industry.  

At the end of the meeting, the officials of Armenia’s Economy and Italy’s Tourism and Sport ministries signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the tourism sector.  

And an Armenian-Italian business forum was held in Rome on September 28. The event brought together representatives from 14 Armenian and 120 Italian companies.