YEREVAN—Armenia has signaled that it will pursue an agreement with the United States to abolish double taxation, saying that it is part of economic agenda of the Armenian government. The push for treaty with the US on abolition double-taxation is being spearheaded by the Armenian National Committee of America.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday after the weekly cabinet meeting, Armenia’s Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan said that Armenia will discuss a double-taxation treaty with the United States as it enhance the business climate in Armenia and will expand opportunities for US businesses.

“Armenia has quite recently signed an agreement with Israel [to abolish] double taxation. That signals a very important moment for us. We had so far signed agreements ruling out double taxation with 46 countries. So Israel is now the 47th,” Aramyan added.

“Minister Aramyan’s remarks speak to the heart of this matter. A new U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty will make Armenia more attractive to American investors, removing unnecessary barriers to the growth of bilateral economic relations,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We welcome his leadership and, more broadly, the growing momentum among stakeholders in Washington, DC and Yerevan for a modern Double Tax Treaty and other forward-leaning initiatives to unleash the potential of U.S.-Armenia commerce.”

He said the Armenian government has discussed this issue with American partners and plans to again propose that both governments sign a related agreement, especially since Armenia joined the multilateral convention of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on counteracting the tax base erosion and profit shifting earlier this year.

He explained that Armenia’s participation in the convention ensures that the minimum standards regarding prevention of treaty abuse and amelioration of the international tax dispute resolution process are implemented in all covered tax agreements quickly.

“I think we have more work to do with our US partners, as the issue has been under consideration for 20 years if my memory doesn’t fail me,” Aramyan noted.