Int’l financial institutions, diplomats send letter to Georgian government, people; praise country’s resilient response to the pandemic
The Georgian authorities, stakeholders across the public and private sectors, and the Georgian people have responded in an extraordinarily resilient and cooperative manner,” says the letter. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The representatives of international financial organisations operating in Georgia and representatives of the diplomatic corps have sent a joint open letter to the Georgian government and Georgian people, praising the country's resilient response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The letter notes that the Georgian economy relies on tourism, trade and remittances, and that it thus is vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic.
The Georgian authorities, stakeholders across the public and private sectors, and the Georgian people have responded in an extraordinarily resilient and cooperative manner,” says the letter.
Georgia has received ‘well-deserved’ international praise for its fight with the coronavirus pandemic, noted the letter.
The letter noted that support schemes were created for business and vulnerable groups and added that recovery plans are being designed.
Fiscal prudence and the buildup of reserves in recent years make the Georgian economy better prepared to address the economic impact of the crisis,” says the letter.
However, the letter says that Georgia needs major investments and financial support “to properly equip the health sector for the challenges ahead…prepare for recovery towards economic resilience.”
The financial institutions say that they “are working together to ensure rapid support to Georgia and are currently discussing a substantial financial relief package to help the authorities respond effectively to this unprecedented crisis.”
These financial institutions are: the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Union and the European Investment Bank, the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW, the French Republic through the Agence française de Développement, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank Group.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that when the coronavirus is ‘turning the world upside down’ he ‘cannot think of a better place to be right now than here in Georgia.’Hartzell states that there are no easy answers regarding COVID-19 and that the EU is suffering much from the virus.“Just look at the pictures coming out of Spain and Italy these days. In this context I would like to congratulate the Georgian government and the Georgian politicians for doing what all evidence suggest is the right approach – to act early and to act robustly,” Hartzell said.
Newly appointed US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has met with Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze today and stated that Georgia is dealing very well with the global crisis related to the new coronavirus – Covid-19.
The European Scientist has written an article about the most resistant countries to the new coronavirus pandemic, mentioning Georgia as one of them. The article says that the Georgian government is one of the few which “has been able to anticipate the crisis better than others, taking restrictive but necessary measures, which have turned out to be beneficial for their country.”
The Prague Civil Society Centre has written about Georgian practices in the effort to combat the new coronavirus. The centre highlights several aspects of Georgia’s work to mitigate the social impact of the pandemic.
Georgian officials have thanked representatives of international financial organisations and diplomatic corps for their recent open letter to the Georgian government and Georgian people, praising the country's resilience amid the coronavirus pandemic.