6th Session of Georgia-Bulgaria Economic Cooperation Intergovernmental Commission
The 6th session of the Georgian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held this past week in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The meeting was chaired by Giorgi Kobulia, Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, and Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, Rosen Jeliazkov.
The Commission discussed the ongoing and planned reforms in the economies of the two countries, the steps taken in the field of bilateral cooperation, as well as the prospects for cooperation in areas such as trade, transport, agriculture, innovations, technology, and more.
The Georgian side emphasized the importance of the transportation sector for bilateral economic cooperation. To fulfill Georgia’s vision of itself as a transport hub, a corridor between Asia and Europe, cargo must move from Georgia’s Black Sea port cities across the Black Sea into a European country on the other side – Bulgaria or Romania. “We agreed that we should study and decide how to make maritime traffic between Georgia and Bulgaria more efficient and more frequent than today. This will help us attract additional cargo,” said Kobulia.
The Commission also discussed restoring direct flight routes between Georgia and Bulgaria, which will help develop the respective tourism industries and increase bilateral business relationships.
Kobulia also emphasized the significance of the memorandum of understanding, signed between the Chambers of Commerce of Georgia and Bulgaria and the Ministry of Economy’s ‘Produce in Georgia’ program and an equivalent program in Bulgaria.
“This MoU will give our businesses the opportunity to deepen dialogue with each other. We plan to conduct a business forum in 2019,” said Kobulia, summarizing the commission meeting. He continued, “In the field of business interaction, we see great potential for the development of textile manufacturing, in which Bulgaria has great experience. Joint ventures could be established. We also see great potential in the manufacturing of furniture, which is also very strong in [Bulgaria] and I think Bulgarian and Georgian companies jointly working together will enable us [both] to enter the export markets more easily. Third – agriculture. For example, a technical cooperation document has been signed for the production of essential oils. Georgia was a major producer of this product in the past, but this sector has disappeared. Bulgaria is now one of the countries with the strongest technical expertise [in producing essential oils] and we have expressed our desire to restore the production of essential oils in our country.”
Kobulia called his visit to Bulgaria and the 6th Commission meeting “overall, very successful.” The 5th session of the Georgian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held in Tbilisi in February 2016. During that meeting, officials from both Georgia and Bulgaria signed several bilateral agreements, agreed on sectors of cooperation, and planned to pursue joint investment projects. Then-Minister of Economy of Georgia Dmitry Kumsishvili emphasized the countries’ deepening relations in the sectors of trade and investment, transport, energy, environmental protection, agriculture, tourism and intellectual rights protection. The countries’ national railway companies signed a memorandum of cooperation to share experience regarding railway transport. The issue of restoring direct flights was also raised at the 5th session of the Commission three years ago.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development