Government’s Spatial Arrangement Plan
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, September 19
Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili has presented an action plan “aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure and creating equal conditions to all regions of Georgia”.
The government claims a Spatial Arrangement plan is the most large-scale component of the government’s four-point reform agenda, which includes new tax benefits, infrastructure plans, governance reforms and an overhaul of the education system.
The Spatial Arrangement Plan says that by 2020 the Government will build and reconstruct 1,000 km of roads.
Additionally, 550 km of highway will be built and about 800km of roads will be rehabilitated, while around 300 bridges and 50 tunnels will also be constructed.
The estimated cost of the project is around $3.5 billion USD.
"Georgia has all the necessary resources to become an economically attractive country with extensive capacities. For this purpose, Georgia needs to grasp the rational understanding of its current situation and arrange spatial planning in the correct way,” Kvirikashvili stated at the presentation on Friday.
According to the PM, education, healthcare and social infrastructure shall become equally available in all parts of the country and tourists should have access to all regions that would transform Georgia into a “full-year resort destination”.
“It is essential to create conditions for people to go back to the mountains, villages and still make money. These conditions shall meet local needs and concentrate on the international markets,” said the PM.
Kvirikashvili said the new plan would also create more stable and predictable conditions for the economic, social and environmentally-friendly development of the country and the attraction of investors.
According to the head of Tourism Administration, Aleksandre Onoprishvili, the new plan represents a pre-condition of tourism development.
“After the implementation of the plan, Georgian resorts will become four-season and the number of visitors will significantly increase,” Onoprishvili added.
Expert Giorgi Gotsiridze believes the plan is realistic.
“The plan is quite ambitious but rather realistic, as the presented views are based on serious research,” he stated.
The members of the ruling team say that infrastructure will no longer hinder business making processes and transportation. Furthermore, the country’s role as a regional hub, connecting east and west, will also increase.
