Armenian businesses offered to consider opportunities in Africa via Belgium

BRUSSELS, AUGUST 26, ARMENPRESS. A group of businessmen from European countries including Belgium will visit Armenia at the initiative of the Belgian-Armenian Chamber of Commerce, the organization’s president Valery Safarian told Armenpress.

He said that Armenia is an important country for the EU and efforts must be made for the EU to see it.

The Belgian Armenian Chamber of Commerce has been working for 20 years.

“The Chamber of Commerce has mostly been a mediator to facilitate contacts,” he said. “Then, Armenia wanted to strengthen its relations with the EU, especially as part of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). That’s when everything got better. The Armenian government assigned the representative of the ministry of economy to Brussels. This enabled us to organize meetings and forums with companies, based on the representative’s knowledge about the Armenian ecosystem. This has been the most dynamic period for the chamber,” Safarian said.

He said that the diamond industry makes up most of the trade between Belgium and Armenia, mostly due to the active Armenian Diaspora in Antwerp and the fact that Armenia has a leading jewelry sector.

Armenian wine producers have also found partners in Belgium and are exporting their products, he added.

“My priority is to make Europe understand that Armenia is a decisive country for them, and that Armenia’s survival, which now faces existential threats, is of great importance. It’s important to underscore that Armenia has strategic assets, particularly in the sector of semiconductors and electronic chips, something which was in shortage during COVID. For example, Siemens has over 300 and Synopsys over 1500 engineers in Armenia. This is a clear indicator that Armenia has surpassed many European countries in this sector, which is highly important for the modern economy. Therefore, Armenia is a reliable and important partner for the EU, especially in terms of the technologies that are significant for green economy. Belgian companies must know this too,” Safarian said.

Asked on which areas investors are mutually interested in, the president of the chamber mentioned the tourism business.

“Thanks to the Armenian community of Belgium, a significant number of Armenians travel to Belgium, but probably not enough. Better promoting the cultural and tourism sights of Belgium could attract more Armenian tourists. Regarding Belgium, we must draw Armenia’s attention to an important point, the business opportunities in Africa, a continent that is often overlooked by Armenian businesses. Belgium, through the Antwerp Port and airport, which offers daily flights to Western and Central Africa and its English-speaking parts, as well as nearly all Francophone capitals, serves as the logistics gate to Africa. In addition, Belgium signed a double tax treaty with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, making tax relations especially attractive. Better communicating these advantages is highly important in order for Armenian businesses to be fully aware about it,” he said.

The chamber will facilitate the participation of the visiting businessmen at the WCIT conference in Yerevan. “We plan to organize meetings with Armenian companies to establish business relations.”

A TEFAX executive will be among the delegates.

Safarian once argued that Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia could benefit from a project similar to Benelux, the union of three neighboring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Asked whether he still believes in this idea, he said “Right now this seems like an illusion, a utopia, especially given Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s disappointing statements. But nevertheless, I believe that there is no other sustainable solution for this region. The initiative on opening the border with Turkey is a significant initiative, because economic exchanges and mutual dependency reduce the threat of conflict or at least make conflicts more difficult to happen. The day Armenia will export electricity to Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan will sell gas to Armenia, creating supplier-customer relations, the tension will definitely reduce. You can’t maintain contradictory relations with your own clients. Even if today it is difficult to imagine dialogue with Baku, I am sure that there is no other way.”

Safarian said Armenia needs to resolve a marketing issue to dismiss the misconception of it being regarded as a poor country. “The fact that there are 1500 Synopsis engineers in Armenia is highly significant, because this shows that the country is a major actor in microchip development.”

Full interview available here.