Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili speaks about Anaklia port at Davos Economic Forum
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, January 20, 2023
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili at the panel discussion held within the Davos Economic Forum, talked about the Ukraine war's 'catastrophic' impact on the whole region, including Georgia, and said that countries should 'diversificate' Economies.
He noted that Georgia, together with its partners, attaches great importance to the development of both road infrastructure and ports.
"Before the war, countries paid attention to the Middle Corridor, but after the war, the attention intensified and increased. Therefore, as President Ilham Aliyev said, I will repeat, we have excellent relations with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, we have a strategic partnership. Combining our chemical substances is very good. We are currently investing heavily in infrastructure. I would like to mention that our highways, which are under construction, should be completed by the end of 2024. 2.3 billion dollars were invested in the construction of this road infrastructure. This will help the direction of transportation," said Gharibashvili.
He also spoke about the development of the port infrastructure and mentioned the deep-water port of Anaklia.
"I would like to mention one specific deep-water port of Anaklia. We decided that the government of Georgia will start the construction of this port, 51% of this consortium will be owned by the government of Georgia, and 49% will be announced at the international tender. We are talking to many potential investors in this direction. We will tell you why we are doing this and why we want to build this port. President Aliyev said that the potential in the ports is increasing. Georgia can carry 550 tons, more than 200 in Batumi, this is not enough. I want to implement this project in order to increase the possibilities," Gharibashvili said.
He also noted that together with Azerbaijan, Georgia is implementing various initiatives, including the Black Sea submarine electric cable.
"I would also like to mention that together with Azerbaijan, we are implementing various initiatives, including the Black Sea submarine electric cable. This is also an interesting initiative, we are doing it together with Azerbaijan, Romania, and Hungary. This initiative is supported by the European Union. In September, we signed a memorandum of understanding in Bucharest, all four countries will implement this project and invest in this ambitious project. This is a very interesting initiative. Therefore, we should be prepared that the turnover of goods in this corridor will increase. This route is the shortest between Europe and manufacturers. For example, a train coming from China, passing through Georgia, will arrive in Georgia in 15 to 10 days. Therefore, this is an interesting and important corridor," said Gharibashvili.
According to the Prime Minister, he is optimistic about this project and believes that all countries will benefit from this corridor.
