Georgia’s PM speaks in Davos
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, January 20
Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, delivered a speech at the Silk Road Effect Session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held between January 17- 20 under the slogan ‘Responsive and Responsible Leadership’.
The top issue of the session was the impact of political and infrastructural investments under the New Silk Road on economic growth and harmonization between Europe and Asia.
Giorgi Kvirikashvili emphasized the importance of Georgia's engagement in the One Belt-One Road project initiative by the President of China.
The PM said the project was a great opportunity for ensuring the development of its participant states.
"It is a network of different alternatives, and each of them is important to create economic growth and a healthy economy in Eurasia. This is about competition and cooperation at the same time,” said Kvirikashvili.
He reminded the audience of the words of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who said that the Silk Road brings enormous opportunities, but there are certain prerequisites in order to get the most of it in order to leverage on the existing potential.
“First of all, it is, of course, infrastructure. The second prerequisite is stability across countries. This is about cooperation, cross-border procedures, and unification of tariff systems. Of course, this is about political cooperation and has multifold dimensions," the PM said.
Moreover, Kvirikashvili underlined that Georgia has already signed cooperation agreements with its partner states. He said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad project was nearing completed and it would be an important part of the Silk Road going through Georgia to Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Kvirikashvili also emphasized the importance of the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project, adding it would be one of the larges ports of the Black Sea Region.
“We already have a winning consortium, a Georgian-American consortium, and they are looking for port operators in the region,” he said.
Georgian Prime Minister said that modernizing railway and infrastructure was one of the top priorities of the government.
“We are modernizing our railway, and increasing its speed. We are also investing a lot in the country’s road infrastructure. Of course, we are cooperating with other countries across the Silk Road. We already signed a cooperation agreement with China. We have completed free trade negotiations with China, and we will sign the free trade agreement in the nearest future,” he said.
The session, which was dedicated to the opportunities offered by the New Silk Road, was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.
Global political leaders and almost 1,000 large companies and organizations are participating in the forum.
