RA-US-2015: Transition to Mutually Beneficial Partnership

• 01.07.2016, 17:19
• Liana Hovhannisyan
•  America,  "Insight" Analytical Center ,  World,  Armenia

In the context of the Republic of Armenia’s multi vector foreign policy continuous cooperation between the United States (US) and Republic of Armenia (RA) is important. To further boost bilateral cooperation  a number of important initiatives were realized in 2015; the target of which was economic sphere. Let’s summarize the main agreements achieved in 2015 aimed at further deepening and development of the economic cooperation between the RA and the USA.

Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Armenia was important in the context of strengthening institutional basis for the cooperation between the two countries. The agreement aims at establishing favorable conditions for investments and boosting goods exchange, trade between the two countries.

In the framework of the agreement the establishment of the  United States-Armenia Council on Trade and Investment was another important initiative. The annual meeting of the joint council will aim at exploring new spheres for mutual investments and trade and work towards their development and elimination of possible obstacles. At present, when the RA is a full member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the investments in Armenia can be profitable not only for the RA, but also for its Western partners (RA can become a bridge for them to the large markets of the EEU states).

In 2015, the US gave Armenia the opportunity to use the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) which provides  preferential duty-free  or low duty entry for a number of goods produced in Armenia to the US market.

The fact that both countries attach importance to the continuous initiatives for the further development of the cooperation between the two countries proves the already ongoing negotiations around the agreement aimed at the elimination of double taxation. Besides economic sphere, the initiatives in other spheres such as judicial, medical, military and so on can also contribute to the development of bilateral relations.

If we try to sum up we are to state that in 2015 the initiatives realized in the economic sphere were important in the long term perspective. And as the US newly appointed ambassadors Richard Mills himself noted all those initiatives aimed at the transition from the cooperation based on mainly supportive projects to mutually beneficial economic, commercial partnership.