MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Giorgi Kobulia participated in the First Informal DCFTA Ministerial in Brussels initiated by the EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström.

Before the Ministerial session, Giorgi Kobulia held a meeting with Cecilia Malmström. Implementation of the Action Plan under the DCFTA and further development of bilateral trade and economic ties were discussed during the meeting.

It was highlighted at the meeting that the effective implementation of the Association Agreement, including the DCFTA, is the priority of the Government of Georgia – the DCFTA is of outmost importance for Georgia, since it provides grounds for gradual integration into the EU internal market, providing access to one of the largest consumers markets without any tariffs and quotas.

As the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Giorgi Kobulia stated after the meeting, the main topic of the meeting was the progress that Georgia has achieved in terms of introduction of the European standards.

“I would like to point out that Ms. Malmström welcomes the ways of implementation of our action plan. We also highlighted the improved bilateral trade index with the EU, which is increased by 12%. We talked about a number of challenges that our companies will have to meet the EU standards in the breeding sectors in order to increase our exports to the EU. We also discussed the updated standards of the state procurement that we introduced in Georgia and if we manage to reach the results we expect in two-three month, our companies will be able to participate in state procurement tenders in the European and EU countries” – the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Giorgi Kobulia stated.

Government Delegations of Ukraine and Moldova also participated in the First Informal Ministerial.