YEREVAN, October 25. /ARKA/. Vardan Aramyan, Armenian finance minister, and Seyyed Kazem Sajjad, Iranian ambassador to Armenia, met on Monday and discussed prospects for modernizing Armenia�s financial systems.

Aramyan is quoted by the finance ministry�s press office as saying that fast economic growth in Iran will have positive impacts on Armenia�s economic growth, and this means that Yerevan is interested in stable economic growth in the neighboring country.

�Economic sanctions against our neighbor affect also us,� he said. �But things have already changed and we are happy that Iran regulates its economic relationship with other countries. I am convinced that we will manage to reach high indicators by joint efforts.�

He stressed that there is plenty untapped capacity in Armenia-Iran business relations.

�Mutual investments are insignificant � Iran�s investments into Armenia total $3 million and Armenia�s investments in Iran amount to $250,000,� Aramyan said. �This means that we have plenty to do and that we can quickly increase this indicator, given the two countries people�s centuries-long trade potential.�

The minister expressed confidence that it is possible to build up Armenian-Iranian trade turnover by development and implementation of mega projects, what was impossible in the past because of economic sanctions against Iran.

In this context, Aramyan said that there is untapped capacity not only in cooperation in energy sector, but also in other segments of the economy, for example road building.

Seyyed Kazem Sajjad, on his side, said that Iran is interested in expansion of cooperation in insurance segment, in prospects for opening new branches by Mellat Bank in Armenia and in interaction on international financial platforms.

By Arm Banks