Georgian Parliament Speaker, Uzbek PM discuss ties

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday met the Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov to discuss ties between the two countries as part of his visit to the Central Asian region.

Papuashvili noted relations between friendship groups in the two countries’ legislative bodies, the Georgian Parliament said.

The body added the officials emphasised “successful development” of cooperation between the two states over the past 30 years of diplomatic relations.

The parties also noted transport and transit importance of the Central Asian and South Caucasus regions for realising the potential of the Middle Corridor, a logistics route connecting Central Asia and China to Europe.

They also reviewed cooperation and projects in economy, energy, airline, railway and other transport sectors.

The meeting also discussed the possibility of opening the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Georgia.

Papuashvili, his Uzbek counterpart and the Georgian delegation laid a wreath at the monument of the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli in Tashkent, and highlighted the naming of one of the central streets of the country’s capital after the Georgian poet as an “important manifestation of the existing friendship between the Georgian and Uzbek people”.