Armenian Prime Minister announces simplified border procedures to enhance regional trade

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced plans to simplify border inspection procedures at all Armenian checkpoints, including those along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. 

The move aims to facilitate trade and improve the overall business environment, particularly in the areas of export, import, and transit, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

Speaking to journalists, Pashinyan linked the initiative to ongoing efforts to unblock communications as part of agreements reached in Washington.

“We will simplify procedures not only at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border checkpoints but at all our border crossings to facilitate the business environment — export, import, transit — which, in any case, is the most suitable and important environment for conducting business,” the prime minister said.

On August 8, US President Donald Trump hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for a historic trilateral summit. The summit resulted in the signing of a joint declaration and the initialing of a draft peace agreement titled “Agreement on Establishment of Peace and Inter-State Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia” by the foreign ministers of both countries, witnessed by Trump, Aliyev, and Pashinyan.

A major component was the agreement to establish a transit route, dubbed the “Trump Route,” through Armenia’s Syunik province, connecting mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan. This route, often referred to as the Zangezur Corridor, will facilitate intra-state and international transportation while respecting the sovereignty of both nations.

By Vafa Guliyeva