Georgia, Belarus Mull Deeper Economic Cooperation
The necessity to further deepen economic ties between Georgia and Belarus was underlined at the meeting of First Vice-Premier and the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Dimitry Kumsishvili and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, Mikhail Rusyi.
The sides met in Tbilisi on March 21 to discuss mutual and regional issues.
Particular attention was paid to the role of the Georgian and Belarusian governments in contributing to the deepening of partnership relations between the two countries.
The meeting participants positively assessed a joint Georgian-Belarusian project, which is about to launch an elevator producing enterprise in Georgia.
The meeting focused on the necessity of deepening bilateral business relations. In the frames of the visit of the Belarusian President, the Georgia-Belarus Business Forum will be held in which the representatives of the business circles of the two countries will participate. It was noted that several dozen companies from both countries will also take part in the forum.
In January 2018, Georgia and Belarus trade turnover is said to have increased by 91%, and exports from Georgia by 47%.
The parties noted that trading potential is high between the countries and this direction “needs to be further developed.”
At the meeting, was revealed that a special Georgian store will be opened in Minsk, Belarus, in which only products produced in Georgia will be sold.
The store will be spread across 1,200 square meters and Georgian wine, mineral water and agricultural products will be sold there.
Georgia’s Ministry of Economy noted that a store has already been operating in Georgia, selling Belarusian products.
In addition, focus was put on measures to promote Georgian wine export to Belarus.
The sides also discussed cooperation in the tourism sphere, noting that in January-February 2018, the number of tourists from Belarus in Georgia increased by 19% compared to the same period last year.
Particular attention was paid to cooperation in medicine and pharmacology. Specifically, cooperation in terms of transplantation, as well as the establishment of joint medicine producing enterprises was raised by the parties.
The sides also talked about issues such as agriculture, transport and logistics, innovations, communications and other priorities.
"One of the most important directions we work in is the development of a transport corridor, which will be able to provide competitiveness and give us an opportunity to increase our trade turnover as much as possible," Kumsishvili said.
Thea Morrison