On December 14, 2020, the RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of USA to Armenia Lynn Tracy and the delegation under her lead.

The RA Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan, as well as representatives of the RA Ministry of Economy and the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs also took part in the meeting.

Vahan Kerobyan welcomed the participants of the meeting and emphasized the Armenian-American cooperation, underlining the continuous support of the US Government in implementation of economic reforms. The Minister of Economy expressed confidence that the Armenian-American economic relations will become more active in the near future.

The RA Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan then presented the agenda of the Armenian-American economic cooperation.

During the meeting the issues included in the agenda of collaboration were discussed, the next steps and directions of cooperation were clarified.

In particular, the parties referred to the operation and further activities of the Trade and Investments Council. The cooperation and dialogue established in the following areas was emphasized: trade and investments, WTO (World Trade Organization), TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) Agreement, SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) Agreement, GSP (Generalized System of Privileges) program, trade diplomacy, high technologies, and others, as well as organization of business meetings with the participation of public and private sector representatives.

Issues related to the availability of payment platforms (PayPal services) in Armenia and development of venture funds and capital market in Armenia were also discussed.

Views were exchanged with regard to activation of the Armenian-American economic ties, bilateral economic cooperation, development of foreign trade relations, attraction of investments, and improvement of the business environment.

The parties also touched upon the programs implemented with the USAID funding, particularly in the fields of tourism, rural economic development, market liberalization, science, innovative agriculture, and business promotion.

Ambassador Lynn Tracey thanked the Minister for the meeting and stressed her willingness to cooperate in all directions and provide the necessary support.

At the end of the meeting, the parties once again stressed their readiness to continue the collaboration.