“New US-Georgia Declaration of Strategic Partnership elaborates on every priority that leads to a greater qualitative advancement of relations between two strategic partners” stated Mamuka Bakhtadze, Prime Minister of Georgia at a regular press briefing held prior to the Executive Government Meeting today when summarizing the recent US visit.
Head of Government of Georgia deems the visit to be productive, noting that strategic partnership between the USA and Georgia has advanced to a new level and new opportunities have opened for Georgia as a result of it.
“We have jointly celebrated 10th Anniversary of Strategic Partnership between USA and Georgia. We have reviewed the past and discussed the reforms implemented in Georgia with US support, along with obtained results in terms of national security, military cooperation and all other achievements that have been reinforced by our US colleagues. At the same time, we signed a Joint Declaration, which elaborates on shared priorities and tasks that need to be achieved. Document is by its nature specific, result-oriented and rather ambitious at the same time” noted the Prime Minister of Georgia.
According to the Head of Government of Georgia, productive political meetings have been held within the scope of the visit. All the significant topics were discussed with Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, including the Russian occupation and aggression demonstrated from the Russian Federation towards Georgia.
“Greater part of the Declaration is focused on economic cooperation. We have substantial challenges towards national security. Document by its nature is very significant. For the first time it manifests the prospects of turning into an economic hub of the region. In addition, significant focus is made on the Black Sea Security. We have been actively working in the recent past on conveying this message to our western partners and convincing them that it is impossible to achieve the sucurity within NATO without the Black Sea Security. It is a priority for the USA and very crucial for strengthening the security systems of Georgia” added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Head of Government of Georgia referred to the meeting with John Bolton, US National Security Adviser, which was focused on the challenges experienced in the region, as well as the role plaid by Georgia within the scope of US-Georgian strategic partnership.
“We have obtained full support on reforms that we have announced. At the same time, fruitful meeting was held at the US Congress and namely at the Foreign Affairs Committee. You may well be aware that a most important document was initiated several weeks ago in the form of an Act in support of Georgia. It elaborates on all the priorities that should turn into components of our strategic partnership: topics related to occupation, breaches and violations of human rights, potential sanctions towards individuals and companies that are engaged in illegal activities at the occupied territories of Georgia; our declared priorities, including the NATO integration; economic cooperation and significant message on Free Trade Agreement (FTA)” noted the Prime Minister of Georgia.
In the opinion of the Head of Government of Georgia, meeting with Senator Graham was also rather productive.
“Last but not least meeting of the political agenda of the visit was held with US Secretary of Commerce. It was followed with a signing of a milestone Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by and between the US Secretary of Commerce and Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. It is a very significant document elaborating on the key pre-announced priorities. It will play a decisive role in positioning Georgia as a leader in the region. We succeeded in increasing the trade volume with USA by 33 percent. Almost 200 US companies operate in Georgia, however it is very little. We have a much greater potential. It is very important that more US companies have a footage in Georgia to create more jobs and let the large US corporations use Georgia as a regional hub for developing and expanding their businesses in the region” noted the Prime Minister of Georgia.
In the opinion of the Head of Government of Georgia, economic agenda of the visit was quite significant and productive. Meetings were held with all the leading US companies.
“We have had essential meetings in San Francisco and namely in the Silicon Valley. Integral part of our strategy is to turn Georgia into a regional hub in terms of economy, tourism, education and innovations. For that very reason we have developed a very important Draft Law, which has been submitted to the Parliament of Georgia. Namely, unprecedented tax regime has been initiated for trans-national companies that will be branching out and doing business from Georgia. We envision Georgia turning into a key partner of the USA and Silicon Valley to this end in terms of advancing innovations and technologies in the nearest future” added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
According to the Head of Government of Georgia, significant meetings were held with investment funds in Seattle, as well as in Dallas. Attending company executives expressed their keen interest in the energy and tourism of Georgia in development.
“I wish to focus on our participation in a significant forum, which was held in Montreal, Canada. Under my instructions our team is working hard on concluding a vital agreement with Canada. I hope that it will be signed by the end of the year. It is intended to support and protect investments in Georgia. It will enable us to attract more investments from the growing economy of Canada. I wish to particularly stress our national idea – education, which has had a great support among our partners both in the public and private sectors” concluded the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Prime Minister’s Press Office
Original Link: http://www.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=526&info_id=72308
See also: 10th Anniversary Joint Declaration on the U.S. – Georgia Strategic Partnership