Agriculture Minister, US Ambassador, USAID Director discuss opportunities of new markets for Georgia’s wine exports
Ambassador Degnan pledged the US Government would support Georgia in overcoming existing challenges and try to “find all possible ways” to promote Georgian products abroad, while Wiebler noted the priority area for USAID was climate change, and pledged to continue support of finding alternative energy sources in Georgia. Photo: Georgian Agriculture Ministry
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Challenges in Georgia’s winemaking sector and diversification of international markets for promoting sales of wine from the country were in the focus of a meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, Kelly Degnan, the United States Ambassador to Georgia, and Peter Wiebler, the Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Georgia mission, on Thursday.
On the meeting, Shamugia said the Georgian Government had been able to reduce the share of wine exports to the Russian market from 80 to 57 percent “in a short period,” adding his Ministry “actively worked” with importers to find alternative markets.
The importance of the support by Georgia’s international partners for promoting Georgian products abroad was noted, in particular due to the situation in the Black Sea region following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month.
The support of the United States Government in this process is important to make Georgian wine more popular on the American market,” Shamugia told the American officials.
The Minister thanked both the US Government and USAID for “years-long and substantial” support in the fields of agriculture and the environment, pointing out his Ministry’s strategy for agricultural development and the importance of its implementation.
Ambassador Degnan pledged the US Government would support Georgia in overcoming existing challenges and try to “find all possible ways” to promote Georgian products abroad, while Wiebler noted the priority area for USAID was climate change, and pledged to continue support of finding alternative energy sources in Georgia.
Reforms in the forestry sector, air and water resources, waste management and trade relations were the topics covered at a meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister and Carl Hartzell, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Wednesday.
Georgian external trade turnover amounted to $2.5 billion in January-February 2022, an increase of 49.2 percent year-on-year, latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) shows.
There will be “no delays” in terms of product supplies for Georgian consumers, Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Thursday.
Shamugia made the comment responding to speculation over a possible lack of availability of products in connection to the conflict in Ukraine, while also urging the public to refrain from buying in bulk to avoid an artificial increase in prices.
Georgia is dependent on import of dairy products “to some extent”, and enterprises in the country have no resources to export such goods on various markets, Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Wednesday.
Environmental reforms in Georgia, projects implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the country and future cooperation avenues were discussed by Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, and Nick Beresford, the UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia, on Tuesday.
Improving productivity and competitiveness of agricultural farms in Georgia, and providing assistance to micro-, small-, and medium-sized agriculture and food production enterprises is the subject of an agreement signed between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, and Raimund Jehle, the Representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday.
Issues of cooperation in the water supply to irrigation systems in Georgia and the strengthening of the capacity of the country’s Land Management Agency were discussed at the meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, and World Bank mission representatives on Friday, the Ministry has announced.