Georgian PM: country to move towards “qualitatively new level of development” in 4 years

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday said the country would move towards a “qualitatively new level of development” within the next four years, an objective  he said would necessitate “everyday work”, adding the Government team was “ready for it”.

During his interview with the PosTV channel, Kobakhidze said the Government’s election programme was “indeed very ambitious”, but emphasised “not a single promise is excessive; all are fulfilled”.

We aim to grow the economy from ₾90 billion ($32.97bln) to ₾130 billion ($47.62bln), with the national budget projected to exceed ₾40 billion ($14.65bln), up from the current ₾28 billion ($10.26bln). Creating 200,000 new jobs is a realistic promise, especially considering that we have already created 170,000 jobs in the last six months. Our promises are based on the work we have accomplished”, he said.

Over the past four years, we have increased Georgia’s economy by ₾40 billion ($14.65bln). Therefore, our commitment to achieving another ₾40 billion in economic growth is based on solid foundations”, he told the outlet.

The same goes for poverty reduction. Since 2012, we have managed to decrease the poverty rate from 30 percent to 11.8 percent. At that time, 1.12 million people in Georgia were living below the poverty line. This number has since decreased by 680,000, leaving about 440,000 individuals still affected by poverty”, the Prime Minister noted./;.'

We are confident that in the next four years, at least 300,000 additional people will be lifted out of poverty, bringing the poverty rate down to below 150,000. This is our forecast and goal for the future”, Kobakhidze added.

As part of its social agenda, Kobakhidze said the Government planned to increase pensions starting next year, with ₾350 ($128.21) as the “minimum” line, particularly for those over 70 and residents of mountainous regions.

The Prime Minister also discussed initiatives in healthcare and education, including  enhancement of university standards and  construction of new sports facilities.

On the second day of the elections, we continued our active work to fulfil all our promises. Every promise we make is enforceable. While ambitious, the programme we present is realistic and achievable [...] The opponents are continually attempting to engage in narrow political entanglements. However, we have a different agenda. Our goal is not only to engage in discussions but also to take action related to the country’s development and to implement the ambitious programme we have presented to Georgian society”, he said.

Reflecting on the Government’s infrastructure achievements, he contrasted the current administration’s performance with that of previous ones, highlighting the current team had constructed 299 kilometres of new highways and done an extensive network of tunnels and bridges, surpassing prior efforts “by a wide margin”.

During the previous Government, only 68 kilometres of highway were constructed, which included one tunnel and one bridge. The tunnel was approximately 3.5 kilometres long, while the bridge was about 2.5 kilometres. Under our current Government, we have completed the construction of 299 kilometres of new highways. Additionally, we have built tunnels of over 40 kilometres long, along with bridges that total more than 20 kilometres in length”, Kobakhidze said.

In terms of human rights, the Prime Minister recalled the situation in prisons as “dire” during the previous Government’s rule.

Many people were being tortured, and the imprisonment rate was 2.5 times higher than before, with a significant number detained illegally and without any legitimate charges. There were instances of TV stations being taken over, and business racketeering increased. Additionally, we lost 20 percent of our territory”, Kobakhidze said.

Interestingly, the only criticism we face relates to our road construction efforts, which, according to our assessments, are about five times more effective than under the previous Government. It is tragic that such political forces still receive about 30-35 percent of the total votes. Our goal is to further reduce this figure over the next four years - ideally by more than the 60,000 votes decrease seen in the last election”, he added.

The Prime Minister said the Government’s primary focus was to work on its development agenda, which he said was “crucial for the country’s progress”.