Georgia’s broadband infrastructure to receive boost after memorandum with Japan
The Ministry also said the Georgian delegation was scheduled to hold bilateral meetings during the Forum running from Sunday to Thursday. Photo: Ministry of Economy
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Georgia’s Economy Ministry and the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Monday signed a memorandum of cooperation in information and communication, involving development of broadband internet technology in Georgia.
Deputy Economy Minister Guram Guramishvili signed the agreement during his participation in the Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto, with the Ministry on Monday citing the official as saying establishing a “digital hub” in Georgia to connect Europe and Asia was a “priority” of his Government's economic policy.
He also said the memorandum aimed to promote improvement of network security, development of data centres and related facilities and the ICT industry, in addition to attracting related investments and contributing to development of invention, research and technical innovation.
The Ministry also said the Georgian delegation was scheduled to hold bilateral meetings during the Forum running from Sunday to Thursday.
The travelling exhibition Ningyō - Art and Beauty of Japanese dolls, representing Japanese cultural tradition, opened on Friday at the Sighnaghi Museum of History and Ethnography in Georgia’s eastern town, the Culture Ministry said.
Strengthening bilateral relations between Georgia and Japan, and deepening cooperation in culture, economy, tourism, agriculture and education were discussed over the past week in meetings between officials of the Government of the western Georgian region of Adjara and Hideki Ishizuka, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to the country.
Relations between Georgia and Japan in various fields were discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, and Hideki Ishizuka, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to the country.
The Netherlands was Georgia's major foreign direct investor country in the first quarter of this year with $239.6 million, followed by Japan with $63.2 million and the United States with $54.7 million, the National Statistics Office of Georgia reported in its latest figures on Friday.
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili and Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Yuumi Yoshikawa on Thursday discussed trade and economic relations between the two countries, as well as progress achieved in this regard over recent years.
The Japanese Embassy to Georgia and international organization Mercy Corps have gifted two forest firefighting vehicles to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Georgian National Communications Commission on Wednesday said the service for providing fixed internet at speeds of 100 Mbps was 136 percent more expensive in Georgia compared to European states, while costs for mobile internet packages with 10 GB of data and 1795 minutes of talk time were 35 percent higher in the country.
Georgia ranked 66th in the world for mobile internet connection speeds and 129th for fixed broadband in December, the latest update of figures in the online Speedtest by Ookla Global Index showed last week.