One of the major directions of Armenia’s foreign policy has been cooperation with Arab countries, President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Gulf Daily News. 

“Drawing from a rich historical foundation for our relations, we have been able to establish good, mutually beneficial cooperation with the UAE, as well as with other countries in the region. These good relations that we enjoy should be taken advantage of and transferred into economic cooperation,” President Sargsyan said.

“The business forum we had last year in Abu Dhabi was a continuation of the discussions we held during my official visit back in 2016 and the discussions I had in person with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” he added.

President noted that last year Armenia established a visa-free regime for UAE citizens and for legal residence there.

“We also concluded a new agreement to encourage and protect investments. Meanwhile, many entrepreneurs made reciprocal visits: Emiratis to Armenia and Armenians to the UAE. The result in 2017 was that our trade turnover exceeded $200m. I believe this is just a small volume of the huge untapped potential that exists for economic cooperation – only about 15%-20%. Therefore, we will continue to draw closer and spare no effort in further fostering our relations with the UAE in all possible areas.”