Dry port to solve Armenia’s bad logistic dependency from world, says economy minister

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The goal of opening a dry port in Shirak province is to solve one of the top problems of Armenia – its bad logistic dependency from the world, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told reporters.

“It’s an industrial park that Armenia doesn’t have. But there are many industrial parks in various countries which are designed to provide necessary primary infrastructures for industrial companies. There will also be an adjacent logistical hub, a container terminal for the transfer of cargo from one transport mode to another to be implemented with the highest class possible and minimum expenses,” Kerobyan explained.

It is planned that a free economic zone will function there. Kerobyan said the dry port project was preliminarily approved during a recent meeting at the Investment Committee under the Prime Minister. Now the project is entering the specialized technical-economic study phase, which will then be followed by the implementation of the investment program.

The investment program is planned to be implemented under a government-private partnership procedure. High class industrial parks and involvement of economic zone operators who are rather active in the region is planned. Kerobyan said they’ve had preliminary discussions with specialized companies from the UAE, Qatar and European and Asian countries.

“The dry port seeks to solve one of the main problems of our country, Armenia’s bad logistic dependency from the world. We’ve found a good way of solving our most painful problem,” Kerobyan said.