Georgia and Turkey discuss deepening economic ties

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze believes Turkey is among Georgia’s biggest economic partners.

During his official visit to Turkey, Minister Janelidze met with Turkish officials where the countries’ bilateral relations were discussed. The Minister ascribed special importance to the success of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.

The railway project, which will facilitate the transportation of passengers, goods and oil, was agreed upon ten years ago by Georgian, Turkish and Azerbaijani officials. It is expected that the project will be completed in early 2017.

Once the railway is fully operational, all three countries expect to benefit from improved trade and economic relations and gain additional Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) through the new railway connecting Europe and Asia.

Experts estimated that its overall capacity will peak at 17 million tonnes of cargo per year. At its initial stages, the railway’s capacity will reach 6.5 million tonnes of cargo and one million passengers annually.

Met the PM of #Turkey Binali Yıldırım @BA_Yildirim in #Ankara. Discussed the successful economic cooperation between #Turkey and #Georgiapic.twitter.com/d8rijls3Tl

— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) 10 January 2017

In a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, the parties discussed the further enlargement of trade, energy and transport relations. Special attention was paid to further cooperation within the Turkish-Georgian Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which came into effect in 2008.

The agreement regulates numerous areas such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures, intellectual property rights, internal taxation, balance of payments, anti-dumping, safeguard measures, rules of origin and competition.

The Turkish Prime Minister once again confirmed his country’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and the country’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.