On October 29-31, the Delegation headed by the Minister of Economic Development and Investments of RA Suren Karayan visited the Syrian Arab Republic to discuss prospects of trade and economic cooperation between Armenia and Syria.

The Delegation is composed of Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of Armenia Levon Sargsyan, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in Der ez-Zor Suren Vardanyan, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia Martin Sargsyan, the Chairperson of the State Committee for Tourism of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of RA Zarmine Zeitountsian, Executive Director of the Tourism Development Foundation Arayik Khzmalyan, as well as representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia.

On October 29, the Prime Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic Imad Khamis received the Armenian delegation. Greeting the guests, Imad Khamis noted that the visit of the Armenian delegation to Syria after a long pause because of the war is a big event in the context of trade and economic relations between two countries. Prime Minister underlined that Syria is grateful for the balanced position of friendly Armenia towards the Syrian crisis. Imad Khamis briefly represented the Government strategy on rebuilding the Syrian war economy as well as new economic programs.

Expressing gratitude for the warm reception, Minister Karayan expressed confidence that his visit will give a new impetus to the Armenian-Syrian bilateral cooperation, which has been postponed because of the crisis. The Minister of Economic Development and Investments of RA noted that the experience and potential of Armenia can be useful for the Syrian side in the recovery of various sectors of the destroyed economy and that Armenia is ready to provide such support to friendly Syria. He added that Armenia can become a bridge for presenting Syrian products in international markets.

Minister Karayan assured that, if necessary, Armenia can provide the Syrian side with high quality specialists in the fields of design, construction, road construction, agriculture and high technologies.

The Prime Minister of Syria Imad Khamis welcomed the willingness of the Armenian side to participate in the Syrian reconstruction programs and emphasized that Syria is interested in seeing Armenian products in its market at the same time assuring that broader privileges will be given to the Armenian producers.

During the meeting the possibility of resumption of activities of the Armenian-Syrian intergovernmental commission has been discussed.