PM Discusses Georgian Economy, Future Goals with World Bank Official

"We have had an excellent meeting. I think we were both able to determine how successful our cooperation has been over the recent years between the Government of Georgia and the World Bank," said Sebastian Molineus, Regional Director of the World Bank for the South Caucasus after his meeting with Giorgi Gakharia, Prime Minister of Georgia today.

Effective and successful cooperation between Georgia and the World Bank were among the key topics of discussion, along with an action plan for vaccination, European integration of the country and structural reform agenda.

Molineus confirmed the readiness of the World Bank to support the country in its European integration within the scope of the prime goal of the Government of Georgia in terms of making an official application for EU membership in 2024.

"The World Bank stands ready to continue delivering its support towards developing the infrastructure connecting Georgia with the EU, including the implementation of regional projects of strategic importance. At the same time, the World Bank intends to enable the government effort towards COVID vaccination."

PM Gakharia emphasized that support demonstrated by the World Bank was vital in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as it has the most positive impact on the economy and social security of the country. It was also noted that recent programs of the World Bank have led to such important reforms as the pension system, deposit insurance, development of the capital market, public-private partnerships and more. The PM and WB Regional Director pledged their readiness to deepen the cooperation within the scope of partnership framework designed for 2019-2022.

Discussions were also related to the upcoming phases of citizen and business support in relation with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A focus was put on wide-scale regional projects. The Prime Minister noted that it is vital for the country to use its strategic location and get successfully positioned in the post-COVID world after the pandemic dies out.

Partnership within the Development Policy Operations (DPO) has been praised at the meeting, as it contributes to the inclusive growth and competitiveness of the private sector.

The World Bank has been having one of the most diversified investment portfolios in Georgia and its funding has reached 2.7 billion USD so far.