Georgian Foreign Minister meets his German counterpart
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, October 30
“The government of Germany is interested in developing business in Georgia,” stated the Foreign Minister of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, after meeting his Georgian counterpart (who is concurrently the Vice PM of Georgia), Giorgi Kvirikashvili on October 28 in Berlin, Germany.
According to the ministers, bilateral economic cooperation, Georgia’s Association Agreement with the EU, issues over the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, relations with Russia and the situation in the Ukraine were discussed at the meeting.
"We talked about the development of relations between Germany and Georgia. We welcomed the joint Georgian-German business workshop participants. This is the first workshop of its kind to take place in Berlin. We also talked about how to strengthen economic relations and how to expand German business in Georgia", said Steinmeier.
The German Foreign Minister (FM) noted that the Georgia-EU Association Agreement (AA) is a very important step and said that Georgia can count on Germany’s further support in the implementation of the AA with the European Union.
According to Georgian FM, the parties also spoke about the possibility of a Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP) for Georgia.
“The support of Germany is very important in the implementation of a VLAP for Georgia; we have successfully implemented the technical requirements and are waiting for a positive report from the European Commission and then for the political decision by the EU-member states,” Kvirikashvili stated.
He noted that German business and investments in the Georgian economy are one of the main priorities of the Georgian government, adding that “additional opportunities for the development of economic cooperation are a part of the EU Association Agreement, including the deep and comprehensive's free trade area”.
During his working visit to Germany, Kvirikashvili met with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign and security policy adviser Christoph Heusgen and the chair of the Christian Social Union parliamentary group, Gerda Hasselfeldt.
Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Deputy FM, Gigi Gigiadze took part in the meeting in Berlin, organized by the German Marshall Fund, which was attended by various German political experts and analysts.
