Davos 2018: Georgian PM participates at ‘Strategic Outlook - Eurasia’ discussion

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has participated in a discussion held at the 47th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

During the World Economic Forum, Georgian PM together with the President of Azerbaijan and deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Erbolat Dossaev, participated in the "Strategic Outlook - Eurasia” discussion.

The moderator of the discussion gave questions to all participants, which was mainly focused on neighbouring relations in the region and how Georgia faces Russian threats and maintains stability.

Partnership with the West, good neighbouring relations, finding zones of common interests with Russia is the way how Georgia achieves stability,” said Kvirikashvili.

The occupation of two of our territories is a big issue...Taking into account the consistent policy of European and Euro Atlantic integration and a policy which is based on certain values, we still need to look for zones or areas with Russia which can serve as a base point in the future to start positive discussions about the political resolution of the conflict... Those areas can be trade, tourism, humanitarian and cultural relations,” said Kvirikashvili.

Today the Russian market is open to Georgia…we have around one million visitors from Russia every year. There is not a single conflict on an ethnic basis with Russian tourists. Our discussions should be based on the respect of territorial integrity, which should be the cornerstone of every discussion in our region,” he added.

As Kvirikashvili highlighted several times Georgia’s pro-Western aspirations, the moderator came up with the question, "How does Georgia cope with Russia’s threats?”, using the example of Ukraine as a country suppressed by Russia for its aspirations.

This is a daily issue in Georgia, how we face threats from Russia,” answered Kvirikashvili. "We are trying to tell our northern neighbour Russia that the policy of Georgia to become part of the western community is not against anybody. Russia should be interested in having a stable southern neighbour. We need to look for platforms which can be positive, where we can find common interests, where we can start positive discussions on the political resolutions of problems we have”, he said.

The next issue discussed at the session was about corruption, how Georgia has fought against corruption and became a "star country”.

This is the result of a full myriad of reforms undertaken by the Georgian government. This is about the openness of the economy, eliminating tariff barriers; this is about the constant improvement of border-crossing procedures and also deep reforms inside the country. Georgia become the chair country of the Open Governance Partnership last year, which we received from France. We created the Investors Council, to eliminate negative surprises for the business community. As for digital economy, we are creating a unified Front Office project and a Business House project. We are further improving transparency, further decreasing any chances of corruption,” said Kvirikashvili.

The Georgian PM also spoke about recent economic development in Georgia, how the government is striving to transform Georgia into a truly European democracy, how the government introduced open competition on the market and the proper protection of property rights.

Kvirikashvili also said that all the efforts were reflected in the country’s international rankings, where Georgia’s position is improving gradually.

The World Economic Forum will end on January 26.