Georgia's future Cabinet have today introduced their agenda for the next four years, with the main goal to improve the welfare of the country.
Today Georgian lawmakers listened to members of Georgia's economic team - six acting ministers of Georgia - about the future plans for the country. The acting ministers were nominated for Cabinet positions but must be voted and approved by Parliament before being confirmed.
Today the six acting ministers spoke about their various ministries and what they planned to achieve in the next four years.
Georgia’s former Minister of Economy and now Acting Minister of Finance Dimitry Kumsishvili spoke about the 2017 state budget and highlighted where the money will go next year.
The 2017 state budget will be distributed across various sectors in the following way; 29.4 percent for social expenditures, 19.8 percent for infrastructural projects, 14.6 percent for law enforcement, defence and security and legal agencies, 8.6 percent for education and science, and 1.2 percent for tourism and entrepreneurship,” said Kumsishvili.
Next Georgia’s Acting Minister of Economy Giorgi Gakharia said the new Cabinet would focus on external and internal factors that affect economic development.
The Georgian economy is developing in a very difficult situation, and what I mean is the external environment. We have a small, open economy and it is impossible for the current developments in our trade partner countries not to affect our economy. However we also need to understand that we should not only blame the external factors but also consider internal factors as a hindrance of economic development,” Gakharia said.
Meanwhile Georgia's Acting Minister of Infrastructure Zurab Alavidze promised during the next four years his office would implement an "unprecedentedly large number of infrastructural projects” worth $3 billion in Georgia.
Alavidze said these projects will be carried out within the Spatial Arrangement Plan and the Government’s four-point reform agenda.
Within these state programs, the Government of Georgia promised to build and reconstruct 1,000km of roads. Additionally, 550km of highway will be built and about 800km of roads will be rehabilitated, while an extra 300 bridges and 50 tunnels will also be built making it easier to drive through Georgia. The estimated cost of this was $3.5 billion.
Georgia’s Acting Minister of Environment Gigla Agulashvili said his office was working on new methods to calculate the rate and risks of environmental damage and would create a law that would force everyone to compensate the damage "in different ways”.
Georgia’s Acting Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze promised he would continue implementing projects that support the country's energy independence.
And finally, Georgia's Acting Minister of Agriculture Levan Davitashvili said during the next four years his team would further develop the country's agricultural sector.
Georgia’s Parliament will vote and decide whether or not to support the country’s new Cabinet on Saturday, November 26.