MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

First Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Dimitry Kumsishvili and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Mikhail Rusyi. The meeting was held within the visit of the Belarusian President to Georgia.

Trade and economic relations of the two countries were discussed by the parties as well as the priority directions of cooperation. Particular attention was paid to the contribution of the governments of Georgia and Belarus in deepening of partnership relations between the two countries.

The First Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, Dimitry Kumsishvili emphasized the importance of the visit of the President of Belarus to Georgia, which, as he noted, will further strengthen the ties between the countries.

Implementation of bilateral Georgian-Belarusian project was positively assessed at the meeting. The project envisages the implementation of elevators manufacturing enterprise in Georgia. It was noted that the project was launched upon the fruitful cooperation of Mogiliovliftmashi of the Georgian Technical University, and its partner, SIS Business Service.

The meeting focused on the necessity of deepening bilateral business relations between the countries. Within the frames of the visit of the President of Belarus, the Georgia-Belarus Business Forum is planned to be held in which the representatives of the business circles of the two countries will participate. Several companies will take part in the forum.

As it was noted at the meeting, the trade turnover between Georgia and Belarus increased by 91% in January 2018, while the exports rate from Georgia comprised 47%. In addition, the parties noted that the trading potential between the countries is high and this direction needs to be further developed.

It was declared that a special store will be opened in Minsk, Belarus, where only the Georgian products will be sold. Trading centers of similar format are currently operating in Georgia. According to the Belarusian side, 1200m2 shopping center will be constructed in Minsk, where Georgian wines, mineral waters, agro-industrial and other food products will be available to the local population of the country.

In addition, the focus of the meeting was on measures to promote Georgian wine exports to Belarus.

The parties to the meeting also focused on cooperation in tourism sector. In January-February 2018, the number of tourists from Belarus in Georgia increased by 19 % compared to the same period of previous year.

Particular attention was paid to the cooperation in the fields of medicine and pharmacology. Specifically, the parties talked about cooperation in transplantation, as well as establishment of joint medication producing enterprises.

The parties also talked about such important issues as agriculture, transport and logistics, innovations, communications and other priorities.

One of the important directions we are working with is to develop a transport corridor, which will be able to provide relevant competitive prices and give us opportunity to increase our trade turnover as much as possible,” - Dimitry Kumsishvili stated.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed on promoting business relations between the two countries through the development of joint business projects and the deepening of economic ties in general.