Georgian foreign minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said the efforts of the foreign office were aimed at increasing the country's economic opportunities through economic diplomacy, and highlighted the work for integration into the European Union single market and development of startups in Georgia with the United States as particularly important.
In a discussion organised by Geocase, Bank of Georgia and media platform Commersant, Darchiashvili noted economic processes in Georgia were “significantly” activated, and the “positive results” achieved by the country were the result of “intensive activities” of the government's economic team and Georgian diplomatic missions.
The minister said economic diplomacy included such “strategic areas” as promotion of bilateral economic cooperation, integration with leading global markets, support of Georgia's export opportunities, attraction of foreign investments, promotion of the country as a transport and logistics hub and a special tourist destination, and provision of direct flights.
I would like to emphasise the importance of the process of integration with the EU single market in our strategic priorities, which is an integral part of the political process of rapprochement with the Euro-Atlantic space. At the same time, I must mention the cooperation with our strategic partner, the USA, where along with investments and trade promotion, we are successfully cooperating in the development of the startup ecosystem in Georgia”, Darchiashvili said.
“Along with the western markets, we are actively working with markets of Asia and the Gulf countries, because we believe that in this regard, there is great potential in the direction of the Middle East, Japan, China and Southeast Asia”, he continued.
Darchiashvili also reviewed future priorities of the foreign office in terms of economic diplomacy, as related to the positioning of the country's transit opportunities and investment environment.
We will continue to further promote the diversification of supply of energy resources from the Caspian Sea to the European market, involvement of Georgia in regional projects and promotion of our country's transport and logistics capabilities. We will work to attract additional investments for the production of renewable energy in Georgia [and] [w]e will promote search for export markets and promotion of Georgia as an attractive tourist destination”, he concluded.