Georgia’s President Participates in OGP Summit 2016 in Paris

PARIS - Georgia has been elected as the next co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the Summit of 2017 is to take place in Tbilisi.

The decision was voiced at the OGP Summit 2016, held in Paris on December 7-9.

The President of France, François Hollande, held the official welcoming ceremony for the participants in Salle Pleyel and opened the Summit. The participants listened to a video address of the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

The OGP Summit 2016 brought together 3000 participants from 70 countries. Heads of States and governments, ministers, public servants, members of parliament, local authorities, civil society representatives, start-ups and digital innovators, researchers and journalists gathered in Paris to share their experiences and best practices.

The representatives of Georgia at the Summit include the members of executive and legislative branches of government and non-governmental organizations.

Transparency and anti-corruption, climate action and sustainable development, digital commons and civic technology, access to information, and open parliament were the key issues discussed at the Summit. 

Margvelashvili thanked the President of France for organizing the global Summit of 2016 and added that Georgia has been a part of this process from the beginning.

“We are very excited about the chairmanship, and we believe it gives us opportunities to share what we have done and to receive experience from others who have successfully improved governance according to the five main priorities discussed and described here”, he added.

He went on to underline that under conditions of increasing democracy, Georgia has successfully carried out many reforms and achieved significant progress related to open government, business, and the fight against corruption.

Within the working visit to Paris, Giorgi Margvelashvili met with the United States (US) Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power.

“It is important that Georgia be actively raised under the new administration of the United States, both on the Georgia-US bilateral agenda and the international agenda adopted by the United Nations,” the Secretary of the President of Georgia for Foreign Affairs, Tengiz Pkhaladze, said.

President Margvelashvili also had a meeting with the President of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, on Wednesday. The current situation and the cases of human rights violation in the occupied territories of Georgia were the main issues of the meeting.

Margvelashvili thanked his counterpart for his firm support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for supporting the Resolution adopted by the UN, recognizing right of return for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia.

The President of Georgia expressed hope that the cooperation between the two countries in the areas of trade and economics would further be enhanced.

By Thea Morrison