Armenia aims to add value to its commodities through partnership with CFC
19 June 2025, The Hague – Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Managing Director of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), warmly welcomed H.E. Mr. Victor Biyagov, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, at the CFC headquarters.
After exchanging pleasantries, Ambassador Belal briefed Ambassador Biyagov on the CFC’s ongoing initiatives, highlighting potential future opportunities for collaboration. Reflecting upon current global challenges, Ambassador Belal underscored the urgency and importance of building even stronger partnerships and closer collaborations with countries like Armenia in an effort to bridge the persistent socio-economic gaps between the Global South and the Global North.
Ambassador Biyagov warmly commended the CFC’s continued accomplishments in poverty alleviation and sustainable economic growth. Expressing keen interest in Armenia’s deepening partnership and potential membership in the organization, Ambassador Biyagov expressed his country's enthusiasm to tap into new opportunities that membership would bring, particularly emphasizing the substantial potential benefits to Armenian SMEs through CFC’s formidable financial instruments and collaborative expertise.
In this context, Ambassador Belal reiterated the multiple benefits Armenia could gain from joining the CFC. He shared his appreciation of Armenia’s ongoing development efforts and expressed confidence that Armenia's membership could significantly amplify its global reach through the CFC’s extensive networks, spanning influential local, regional, and international organizations. Such partnerships, Ambassador Belal emphasized, would significantly enhance Armenia’s capabilities in commodity innovation and sustainability, facilitating impactful and climate-smart solutions across supply and value chains.
Referring specifically to the CFC’s ambitious initiative on "Humanizing Value Chains," Ambassador Belal encouraged Armenia’s participation to help drive global transformation towards equity, fairness, and prosperity in commodity transactions. “What might seem aspirational at present,” Ambassador Belal noted, “will soon become routine practice, directly benefiting billions of smallholders and marginalized commodity workers worldwide through fairer and more humane practices.”
Ambassador Biyagov highlighted Armenia’s abundant natural resources and reaffirmed his country’s commitment to leveraging those assets fully, ensuring tangible benefits not only for Armenia's own citizens but also for the broader international community. Moreover, he articulated Armenia’s aspiration to regain the real "value" in value chains, in line with CFC’s goals, and emphasized Armenia’s commitment to equitable and climate-conscious economic development.
The meeting concluded on an optimistic note, with both ambassadors reaffirming their mutual commitment to pursue meaningful follow-up engagements and laying the foundation for active, fruitful future cooperation. Both expressed enthusiasm in jointly advancing Armenia’s developmental objectives through effective collaboration in the near future.
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[CFC Media Relations Team]
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