YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. During the 9th sitting of the Armenian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission held in Yerevan on January 27, Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisian and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki signed the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding of the 9th Joint Sitting of the Armenian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission. A. Movsisian stated that the document opens quite a great development prospect for the economies and citizens of the two countries. The memorandum includes all the sectors of the economy, as well as the cultural sphere. "It remains only to work in order to realize these programs. I want to express a deep gratitude to my Iranian colleagues, to Mr. Mottaki for their constructive approaches, thanks to which this document was created. I am convinced that positive changes will be observed at the next sitting of the intergovernmental commission," A. Movsisian said. In M. Mottaki's words, the heads of the two countries have the will-power to develop and extend the relations, while the ministers and the private sector have an obligation to implement the strategy worked out by the heads of Armenia and Iran. He also underlined that the document is the outcome of joint efforts exerted by representatives of all spheres and includes a wide range of issues: from trade, agricultural, transport, and energy problems to customs issues. The Iranian foreign minister announced that some problems related to trade were discussed at the sitting. "Our decision is the following: if goods have to be imported into Armenia, then priority will be given to Iran. And vice versa, if Iran needs to import goods available in your country, Armenia must be among priority countries," M. Mottaki declared, adding that reforms should be carried out in those infrastructures which contribute to the development of trade and commodity turnover. Speaking about his meeting with the Armenian president, M. Mottaki attached importance to the fact that the president pays special attention to three strategic projects that will give a new nature to the relations of Armenia and Iran. These projects are the creation of direct railway communication and the construction of a new road between the two countries, the construction of hydropower plants on the Arax River and a pipeline for oil products. In his words, in case of implementation of the memorandum provisions on these three projects, the Iranian-Armenian relations will undergo an essential change. "We are glad that Armenia - our neighbor and a friendly country will play a key role in the implementation of these projects: in terms of the north-south axis, transport and transit problems," M. Mottaki underlined. It should be mentioned that during the 9th sitting of the Armenian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission, a mutual understanding memorandum on the creation of an Iran-Armenia Investment Committee was also signed between the Armenian Development Agency (ADA) and Iran's Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance.

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