World Bank and Georgia celebrate 25 years of partnership

Georgia and the World Bank are celebrating 25 years of partnership today.

To mark this occasion Georgia’s Finance Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili hosted the Vice President of the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region, Cyril Muller today.

The meeting highlighted the most remarkable periods of the partnership and the positive impact the World Bank had had as a long-standing partner of Georgia.

… the World Bank has already been supporting Georgia for 25 years and has been investing in the country. We have been partners of Georgia to make it a strong country… For the World Bank it is a big honour to cooperate with Georgia. One of the most important elements of Georgia’s success is that it is a strong reformer country and Georgia has proved this during over the course of these 25 years,” said Muller.

Georgia - International Development Association (IDA) [part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries] membership signing ceremony. Washington, DC (August 1993). Photo source: the World Bank.

Muller stated that Georgia had been implementing the economic reforms and added it could become a high income country if strong economic growth continued. Furthermore, he announced new research that would reveal what hinders Georgia's economic growth.

Now the World Bank is conducting research to find out what hampers Georgia’s economic growth. Based on this research we will reveal what is the economic growth model in Georgia. I want to remind first Deputy Prime Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili that management of public finances is very important and it should be in focus,” Muller stated.

Muller promised that the World Bank would remain Georgia’s supporter and partner in the future.

On the other hand, Kumsishvili also expressed his hope that Georgia and the World Bank would jointly move towards the joint dream – the elimination of extreme poverty and the growth of welfare in Georgia.

Georgia became a member of the World Bank on August 7, 1992. Since that time, the World Bank has provided concessional credits and loans to finance 69 projects, totaling over $2.7 billion across different sectors of Georgia's economy. The current portfolio consists of 12 active investment projects and development policy operations totaling $789 million.