Deputy Economy Minister: Georgia “ready to do everything” to achieve its goal - become EU member
As a result of fruitful cooperation with the EU, Georgia’s trade turnover with the bloc had increased by 29 percent, amounting to 20.5 percent of the total trade turnover of the country in 2022, Arveladze said, adding exports from Georgia to the EU market had also increased by 20 percent and reached $863 million. Photo via Economy Ministry
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Genadi Arveladze, the Deputy Economy Minister, on Thursday said Georgia was “ready to do everything” to achieve its goal and become a member of the European Union, noting “getting the membership candidate status and beginning the accession negotiations are only the commencement of a long road” to EU integration.
In his speech at the 12th meeting of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee in Brussels, Arveladze emphasised Georgia was “committed” to political association and economic integration with the EU, implementing “a wide range of reforms” to deepen trade relations with the bloc and promote harmonisation with its standards in various fields.
As a result of fruitful cooperation with the EU, Georgia’s trade turnover with the bloc had increased by 29 percent, amounting to 20.5 percent of the total trade turnover of the country in 2022, Arveladze said, adding exports from Georgia to the EU market had also increased by 20 percent and reached $863 million, the Economy Ministry said.
He also emphasised the implemented and ongoing reforms in food safety, quality infrastructure, technical regulations, metrology and market supervision, as well as accreditation and state procurement.
The decision to open the EU market for Georgian products of animal origin was also highlighted by the Deputy Minister, expressing hope that soon other products would also be added to the list.
Diana Jabłońska, the Head of Unit for the team following Georgia, Moldova and the Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership in the European Commission, on Thursday said the European Commission’s report on Georgia's compliance with the European Union legislation showed there was an “important basis for moving forward”.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Thursday said comments by Marina Kaljurand, a member of the European Parliament, who said Georgia “lags behind” Ukraine and Moldova on its European integration path, was “solely her view”, and said the Government had heard “nothing but good [assessments] from our European colleagues” on the matter.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday expressed her expectation that the European Union would take a “decisive step” this year based on ”fair” assessments and grant its membership candidate status to Georgia, encouraging the country to “move forward” on its European path together with other candidate countries.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday told Gert Jan Koopman, the Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, that Tbilisi expected “proper assessments” of its “efforts and progress” by obtaining the bloc’s membership candidate status by the end of this year.
Deputy Economy Minister Romeo Mikautadze on Thursday said Georgia’s role as a hub for green energy development was evident in the region in view of its “strategic location”, highlighting the importance of strengthening and developing appropriate infrastructure to ensure the transportation of green energy from the South Caucasus to Europe.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Sunday said Georgia had already implemented most of the recommendations, outlined by the European Union last year for granting its membership candidate status and noted the country was expecting the bloc to “take a firm step” and grant Georgia the status based on “fair assessments”.