Georgian PM: Gov’t’s “main objective” to “fully honour” all election pledges for next 4 years

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday said his Government’s “main objective” was to “fully honour all pledges” made for the next four-year period as part of its electoral programme.

In his interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Kobakhidze noted the plans to boost the country’s economy by ₾40 billion ($14,7bln), while increasing the state budget from current ₾28 billion ($10.3bln) to ₾40 billion ($14.7bln) by 2028 and shrinking unemployment to four percent, under the European Union average.

Addressing poverty as of the challenges facing the country, the Prime Minister acknowledged its level was “still high” as “440,000 of our citizens live below poverty line” and stated the goal of dropping it to a “maximum of four percent”.

Kobakhidze also highlighted “very important” planned infrastructure projects aimed at enhancing the country's transit function.

“Our plans include completing the main section of the East-West highway to fully connect the borders. The construction of the Anaklia [deep sea] port, which has already started, the construction of the [new] Tbilisi International Airport, the completion of the railway modernisation project and more”, the PM pointed out, adding these efforts meant “we will take our country to an essentially different level after four years”.

The head of the Government also highlighted  “ambitious plans” in  education, including a university reform that he said would align  infrastructure in state universities “entirely with European standards”.

On foreign policy front, Kobakhidze emphasised the Government’s “main priority” was for the country to become a member of   the EU and, in doing so, meet more than 90 percent of commitments undertaken under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area deal.