(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QNA
Within the framework of the growing friendship and good relations between the two countries, President of the Republic of Armenia H E Armen Sarkissian started Wednesday an official visit to the country.
Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is scheduled to meet HE President Sarkissian to discuss bilateral relations and ways to develop and strengthen them as well as a number of issues of common interest.
The visit is expected to contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries and pushing them towards broader horizons, especially in the economic, commercial and investment fields.
Relations between Qatar and Armenia are evolving in many sectors since its establishment on Nov. 5, 1997. These relations have been strengthened over the years through many official visits by senior officials from both sides, most notably the visit of the former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan to Doha in 2002, and the former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in 2017.
The two countries are linked to a set of agreements and memoranda of understanding related to the establishment of a joint ministerial committee, avoidance of double taxation and prevention of financial evasion, trade, economic and technical cooperation, encouragement and mutual protection of investments, cultural, agricultural and tourism cooperation and in the field of environmental protection and the regulation of the employment of Armenian workers in the State of Qatar.
The official visit of the Armenian President to Doha in November 2019 and his participation in the“Doha Forum” and the World Innovation Summit for Education“WISE 2019”, contributed to raising the level of bilateral relations.
In October 2019, an Armenian delegation specialized in information technology field visited Qatar Information Technology Conference and Exhibition (QITCOM 2019).
It was chaired by the Minister of High-Tech Industry, where about 20 leading Armenian companies in the field of information technology participated in a pavilion that was honored at the opening ceremony, in addition to visits by many delegations from various sectors. During his meeting with a delegation from“Qatar Chamber”, the Armenian President praised the strong relations between his country and the State of Qatar, expressing aspiration to strengthen them, especially in the trade and economic fields.
H E also called on Qatari businessmen to study the investment opportunities available in Armenia and direct their investments to it, following the participation of Qatar Chamber delegation in the activities of“Armenian Summit of Minds”, which was held in the Armenian city of Dilijan in 2019, with participation of representatives of 27 countries and more than 100 prominent personalities from Armenia and abroad.
Discussions were held that focused on geopolitical processes in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, advanced technologies, management, artificial intelligence, digital economy, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership in the twenty-first century, dialogue of civilizations, currency and investment policies, and risks and challenges facing the world. Armenia offers interesting opportunities and a good business environment for investments, particularly in the fields of agriculture, tourism, real estate and high technology.
Qatar Airways offers four weekly direct and non-stop flights between Doha and the Armenian capital Yerevan. These trips have contributed to a significant increase in the influx of tourists from Qatar to the Armenian capital, in addition to the facilities provided by the Armenian government such as exempting Qatari citizens from entry visas.
Armenia is a mountainous country in Western Asia, covering an area of more than 29,000 km2 with an estimated population of 2.97 million. It is located between the Black and Caspian Seas, bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.
Armenia is one of the most advanced countries in the former Soviet Union in the field of the technology industry, which is one of the pillars of the economy there. Its economy depends largely on the investment sector, which is witnessing great development in various fields. Armenia is rich in many feasible investment opportunities that businessmen can seize. In the pre-independence phase, the economy relied on the manufacture of chemicals, electronics, machinery, food processing, synthetic rubber and textiles, the raw materials of which are imported from abroad.
In the independence period, Armenia developed a modern industrial sector based on the export of machinery, textiles and other manufactured goods abroad.
Agriculture constituted less than 20 percent of the GDP. After independence, the importance of agriculture in the economy emerged significantly, as its share rose at the end of the 1990s to more than 30 percent of GDP and more than 40 percent of total employment.
Armenian mines produce copper, zinc, gold, and lead, while the vast majority of energy comes from fuel imported from Russia, including gas and nuclear fuel for its only nuclear power plant. The main source of domestic energy is hydropower.
Armenia is working to ensure the preservation of the economy's strength and the creation of favorable conditions for foreign investments, which are a priority.
It focuses on supporting the engineering, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and has established two free trade zones in which investors enjoy a set of incentives and exemptions.
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