Ani Samsonyan: Which markets will substitute banned Turkish goods?
"By the decision of the Armenian government a temporary embargo on imports of any consumption goods of Turkish origin was put, effective December 31, 2020," opposition lawmaker Ani Samsonyan said during the parliamentary Q/A session on Wednesday. Samsonyan asked what are the plans of the government to provide businessmen a worthy substitute for the Turkish market.
"We are working online with economic entities who faced problems and still have difficulties in getting the ordered goods. All issues are being solved in a working regime," Minister of Economy Vahan Qerobyan said in response.
As to the substitution of the markets, Qerobyan noted that the government priority is to replaced the imported goods with those of local production. "We try to support those entities who have difficulties. Apart from that, we are paying attention to Chinese, EAEU and Iranian markets," stressed the minister.
He added that some of the economic entities have even enhanced their markets after the decision of the ban and are satisfied with the government move. "We must make the most out of that decision," added Qerobyan.
To note, the government earlier said that the decision on ban was prompted by serious security concerns associated with product safety, taking into account the open and evident promotion and support by Turkey of Azeri aggression against Artsakh.