Wardrop Dialogue 2017

What to say, from the perspective of a Brit living in London, about the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue 2017?

It would appear that things are looking positive. The largest elephant in the room, pertaining to both the Wardop Strategic Dialogue and the domestic policy of the UK, has of course been Brexit. It’s a divisive subject over here and the referendum brought previously unappreciated societal rifts quite starkly and unexpectedly to the surface. One thing that the vast majority on both sides can agree on, however, is that it behoves us to make a success of the referendum result.

To that end, the Dialogue shows some encouraging signs. Perhaps most notable is a preliminary agreement for a free trade deal between the UK and Georgia. The details are to be threshed out over the coming year(s) on the understanding that both countries will be ready to implement the deal at the time of the UK’s departure from the EU. Georgia has signed trade deals with the CIS countries, China, and is working on a deal with India. There are clear signs that it wants to position itself as a trade bridge between Europe and the Far East which is in both country’s interests.

In terms of the private-sector, Georgia is trying to make itself attractive to both domestic and foreign investors both by consolidating its existing ties with British companies, vis-à-vis renewed investment from BP and encouraging developments on the London Stock Exchange, and developing its own capital market. Tourism is another area which the Georgian government is watching closely. Napoleon’s famous dictum that “Britain is a nation of shopkeepers” has become truer as the years since it was issued have proceeded, and although he presumably meant it disparagingly, our service-economy seems to have benefited both nations: Georgia’s population is shy of 4 million but it welcomes about twice that per year in terms of visitors. The UK’s experience in the hospitality and retail fields are necessary and welcome.

If Brexit is the UK’s elephant in the room, then the national sovereignty of the occupied territories is Georgia’s. Britain’s official policy does not differ much from Georgia’s in that for both the ideal outcome is reunification by countering Russia’s soft aggression through enticement: i.e. making Georgia the more attractive option with regards to enjoying the fruits of international trade, prosperity and community cohesion.

Ultimately this dialogue merely sows the seeds of future relations between the UK and Georgia and the coming years will show whether there are benefits to be reaped, but considering the positivity and will to engage shown by both sides, coupled with the previous 25 years of UK-Georgia integration, there is every reason to be optimistic.

Robert Edgar, London