Georgia’s capital gearing up to host fourth Tbilisi Silk Road Forum

Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Genadi Arveladze on Friday opened an organisational centre to help organise the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum, an event set to host thousands of representatives from 60 countries later this month, “at a high level”.

The Ministry of Economy said the Forum would be attended by an “unprecedentedly high number” of participants in its fourth edition this year.

Up to 2,000 delegates from both governmental and private sectors are set to take part, with the event set to be opened by prime ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Montenegro and the Vice President of the Asian Development Bank.

Forum participants will discuss global economic challenges, ways to solve them, and aspects and perspectives of cooperation for connectivity. The Ministry said 10 sessions would be hosted on the first day of the Forum, with day two used for discussion of Georgia's investment opportunities and B2B meetings.

Arveladze said the Forum helped to increase the awareness of Georgia in general and also its role as a “major connecting country”.

The main idea of the Silk Road Forum is to further increase connectivity, and the role of Georgia as a hub is very important in this case. The Forum will contribute to the greater involvement of countries in the Middle Corridor initiative”, Arveladze said.

The first edition was hosted in the Georgian capital city in 2015, with the 2023 event set to run between October 26-27.