Georgia’s President attends forum on ‘Landlocked Developing Countries’ in Vienna

Georgia’s President is continuing his working visit to Austria.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili took part in the second United Nations (UN) conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in Vienna, which will continue from November 3-5.

At the LLDC forum, Margvelashvili met with the heads of the UN and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The LLDC forums aimed to seek solutions to difficulties faced by developing countries without access to the sea, such as high transport costs which are a barrier of international trade.

The President’s adviser Giorgi Abashishvili emphasized that Georgia’s attendance to the forum, alongside country leaders whose nations were landlocked, was important as it highlighted Georgia’s role as a transit country where goods could come into Georgia via the Black Sea and be distributed worldwide.

"It is a very important conference because for landlocked developing countries, Georgia has a special role. In our continent eight countries out of 14 benefit from Georgia’s transit functions,” Abashishvili said.

"On the one hand Georgia could contribute in the developing and integration process of those countries to the global economic system, and on the other hand cooperation between Georgia and LLDCs is based on mutual benefits,” he said.

During the three-day forum, leaders will assess and discuss the issues facing landlocked countries and discuss how to assist them in areas including infrastructure development, facilitate transit and trade, reduce prohibitive transport costs and enable landlocked countries to fully participate in the global trade.

Georgia’s President will speak at the forum after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and the President of Montenegro.

Meanwhile, during his visit Margvelashvili is scheduled to meet Austrian President Heinz Fischer, Vice President of the Austrian Parliament Karlheinz Kopf, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, general director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN José Graziano da Silva, and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.