Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

LA: State trade office to open in Armenia

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • LA: State trade office to open in Armenia

    Los Angeles Daily News
    Oct 1 2005

    State trade office to open in Armenia
    By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer



    California's trade office in Armenia will open Monday, thanks to the
    $75,000 raised by local members of the Armenian community to create
    trade partnerships between the Golden State and the former Soviet
    republic.
    The office will be in temporary quarters in Yerevan, Armenia's
    capital, in a government building there. An English-speaking Armenian
    was appointed to run the office, which will link importers and
    exporters between California and the landlocked nation east of Turkey
    and north of Iran.

    Because the money was raised privately, the state was able to open
    the office in Armenia even though California's other foreign trade
    offices were closed recently because of state budget woes. That could
    be a model for the state if it opens other foreign trade offices,
    officials said.

    "The Armenian officials that I met with are very excited about it
    because they recognize that one of the ways as a developing country
    they're going to progress is to count on the expertise and the
    products that would come from a place like California," said Sen.
    Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, who was in Armenia from Sept. 19-23.

    Officials expect that the office will facilitate in the export of
    information technology and health products going into Armenia and
    help Armenian businesses export foodstuffs and other products to
    California.

    There is nearly $50 million in trade between Armenia and the United
    States, most of it with California, said Berdj Karapetian, chairman
    of the Glendale-based Foundation for Economic Development, which
    helped create the trade office.

    "There are quite a few individual business owners, midsize business
    owners - not the multimillion dollar ones or the small mom-and-pop
    entities - midsize businesses that are looking for business
    opportunities in Armenia that are developing, but they're not sure
    the exact ways to go about it," said Karapetian, who works in
    marketing.

    The office will facilitate that work that they need, he said.

    No public money has gone into creating the trade office, and there
    could be a need for additional fundraising in the future to keep the
    office operating.

    "I'd like to see it grow," said Annette Vartanian, executive director
    of the Glendale-based Armenian American Chamber of Commerce.
    "Obviously, it's going to start out small, but I'd like to see in the
    next couple of years for the office to expand and to see a team of
    people working."

    The office is overseen by the California Business, Transportation &
    Housing Agency.
Working...
X