Georgia-United States pledge future cooperation

The bond between Georgia and the United States (US) is strengthening, as the US side confirmed it intended to continue cooperating with Georgia in a range of sectors at a bilateral meeting between country officials today.

Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister David Dondua is in the US and attending high level meetings with American officials with the purpose of reaffirming cooperation between the two countries.

He has already taken part in the US-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission’s Economic, Trade, and Energy Working Group, and attended several official meetings in the US State Department, the White House and US Congress.

After the Working Group meeting, the US State Department released a special statement that summarised the meeting’s results. It said the Economic Working Group had "reaffirmed the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Georgia.”

"The United States congratulated Georgia for its significant progress in implementing reforms required by the Association Agreement with the European Union, noting this demonstrated Georgia's continued achievements in realising its Euro-Atlantic integration goals.”

US-Georgia Economic Working Group meeting, Washington, DC. Photo by Embassy of Georgia to United States

The US State Department also confirmed it was ready to assist Georgia implement the Association Agreement (AA), and its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).

One topic on the agenda of the Working Group was the ‘Georgia 2020’ Economic Strategy, which the US encouraged Georgia to implement with continued private sector consultation.

"The Working Group also discussed bilateral cooperation in agriculture, intellectual property rights, public-private sector engagement, energy security and supply diversification, infrastructure development, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” said the US government in its statement.

Georgia’s progress in strengthening intellectual property rights enforcement, labour rights protection and inspection mechanisms, development of the competition law, and establishment of an independent competition agency, was also welcomed by the US side.

"The United States underscored its support of Georgia’s growing economic role as a regional business, trade, and logistics hub, and its contribution to the revitalisation of east-west trade routes along the Silk Road to connect European and Asian markets through the South Caucasus.”

The importance of continued improvements to transportation infrastructure and increased regional cooperation to remove regulatory bottlenecks through the trade corridor was also stressed by the meeting’s participants.

On this note, the American side confirmed it supported and intended to to participate in Georgia’s Silk Road Forum in October.

Reception for Economic Working Group participants. Photo by Embassy of Georgia to United States

The Working Group meeting was represented by the US side by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Kurt Tong, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Jonathan Katz, and Executive Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe, Middle East and Africa Michael Lally. The Georgian side was represented by First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Dondua and Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mikheil Janelidze.

The US government noted the Strategic Partnership Commission was "the primary mechanism for organising and prioritising the broad and deepening cooperation between the US and Georgia”. The Commission included four bilateral working groups on priority areas identified in the Charter on Strategic Partnership: democracy and governance; defense and security; economics, trade, and energy; and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Meanwhile, as well as attending the Working Group meeting, Dondua also met with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Organisation Affairs Erin Barclay, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia and Eurasia Celeste Wallander, and Adviser to the Vice President in European Issues Michael Carpenter.

At these meetings the sides talked about the current issues facing the Georgia –US strategic partnership, both in bilateral and multilateral formats. The Georgian delegation spoke about the current reforms in the country, including the AA and DCFTA, as well as future regional, economic and infrastructure projects with their American partners.