Georgian deputy economy minister Genadi Arveladze on Tuesday told the Eastern Partnership Forum in Prague, Czechia the “correct policy” of the Georgian government to diversify its export markets had reduced the country’s reliance on the Russian market.
Arveladze said export of Georgian products was growing "significantly" in countries that had signed a “new generation” free trade agreements with it.
For example, in the eight months of 2022, exports to Russia increased by only two percent, [while] to the European Union [the figure increased] by 46 percent, and to China - by 18 percent", Arveladze said.
The deputy minister also spoke about the process of harmonisation of the Georgian legislation with normative acts of the EU. He said his government had successfully concluded negotiations with the bloc over the recent years, resulting in an opening of the EU market for exports of a number of Georgian products of animal origin.
He also reviewed political and economic reforms implemented in the country since its 2014 signing of the association agreement and the deep and comprehensive free trade area deal with the EU. Arveladze credited the latter with playing a "key role in the process of forming Georgia's trade policy".