Kuwait to make investments in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Member of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Kuwait Industries Union Chairman Hussein Al-Kharafi said on Monday, December 12, that the Armenian economic delegation's visit to the country marked "the beginning of future investments between the two countries."

Al-Kharafi told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on the sidelines of the meeting with the delegation that "the Republic of Armenia has distinct segments of investment in the fields of tourism, agriculture and jewelry," saying that the delegation briefed the Chamber on investment opportunities in Armenia and the business environment there.

He said that the visit of the delegation headed by General Director of the Armenian Development Agency, Robert Harutyunyan along with a number of private sector representatives in Armenia came in response to the visit of the Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali last October to Armenia within the framework of the first meeting of the joint Kuwaiti-Armenian Ministerial Committee in Yerevan.

Al-Kharafi pointed out that the delegation met during its visit with a group of local investors and paid a visit to a number of agencies and economic institutions in the country, including the Kuwait Industries Union.

For his part, Mr. Harutyunyan said that Kuwait's Medium-term development plan is a "good chance" for the exchange of investment and cooperation between the two countries in commercial activities.

He said the Armenian government is interested in providing the necessary facilities to Kuwaiti investors, referring to many valuable investment opportunities under implementation with good economic feasibility.

He said the expected GDP growth rate of his country in the current year was up to five percent compared with 2.6 percent last year, indicating that the volume of direct foreign investment in Armenia stood at USD 690 million in 2010, KUNA reported.