On 22 November, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte to bolster the trade and economic relations between the two countries, reported news.am. 

“I stated the fact that, at this moment, Italy is Armenia’s second partner for trade and economy in the European Union. I [told] my counterpart about the Armenian-Italian business forum that was held in Milan,” said Pashinyan.  The two parties also touched upon the opportunities for the growth of tourism and had attached importance to the Rome-Yerevan and Milan-Yerevan direct flights to be launched by Ryanair starting from January 2020 (Caucasus Watch reported), which will highly contribute to the intensification of tourism and business relations.

Pashinyan highly appreciated Italy’s support to the development of the EU-Armenia partnership, including the launch of talks over visa liberalization. He stated that they had also touched upon the current state of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “I reaffirmed Armenia’s willingness to continue [to] work for a peaceful settlement of the conflict through the mediated efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. We also touched upon Armenia’s peacekeeping mission under the Italian command of the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.” Pashinyan emphasized that they had also exchanged views on the Syrian crisis and expressed concern about the Turkish army’s invasion of Syria’s northern and eastern regions.

Conte mentioned the deal concluded between Telecom Italia Sparkle and Ucom from November this year as a major milestone of Armenian-Italian economic relations. He also voiced support for the Armenian government’s reform agenda and, in particular, its anti-corruption efforts. He said his government stands ready to share Italy’s extensive anti-corruption experience with Yerevan.

A day earlier, Pashinyan met with the representatives of Italy’s business community in Milan. In particular the representatives of the Italian investment Bank Mediobanca, the largest commercial bank in Italy, in order to discuss prospects for investment cooperation and joint programs. Pashinyan said that his government is implementing fundamental reforms in various areas, including the business environment [and that there are] effective investment protection mechanisms are in place in Armenia to provide for attractive opportunities for businesses. Welcoming the reforms implemented by the Armenian government, the Italian businessmen said they wish to invest in Armenia. Agreement was reached to launch a discussion on specific joint projects.

Pashinyan also hosted an Armenian-Italian business forum titled “Armenia, New Reality: Platform to Eurasian Market”. "If you ask me why you should invest in Armenia, my answer will be the following: investing in a small country with global networks and skilled labor force is quite promising,“ he said.  He also said that the Armenian government aims to introduce technological education, soft skills development and helping students to identify their aptitude. These goals will be achieved through investing in primary, vocational and higher education. Pashinyan named the sectors of information technologies, banking, tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, renewable energy and the textile industry as the most lucrative foreign investment sectors in Armenia. He also argued that foreign companies setting up shop in Armenia would gain tariff-free access to the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

According to Armenian government data, Armenian-Italian trade rose by 13 percent, to almost $196 million, in the first nine months of 2019. Armenian exports to Italy were up by around 26 percent, at $46.5 million. Armenia mainly exports textile, clothing, aluminum foil, ethanol, liquor, plastic goods, automatic regulators and control devices to Italy. The imports from Italy to Armenia consisted of chocolate, confectionery, pasta, fabrics, central heating boilers and oil/petroleum products. The two countries have so far signed 9 bilateral agreements. These range from regulating promotion and protection of investments, international road transport of passengers and goods, air transport, avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital and prevention of fiscal evasion; Cultural, Educational, Scientific and Technological Cooperation; Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters; Economic cooperation; Police Cooperation; and defense cooperation. In 2016, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Jentiloni initiated the establishment of the Armenia-Italy Business Forum in order to further bolster the economic ties between the two countries.