The 15th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia took place in the Georgian town of Sighnaghi, headed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, Nikol Pashinyan and Irakli Kobakhidze.
The Georgian Prime Minister welcomed the Armenian government delegation and emphasized the fact of the friendly ties between the two countries. According to Irakli Kobakhidze, these friendly, traditional ties are the basis of the strategic relations between the two countries. “Of course, this level of cooperation allows us to achieve great success together in the future, to strengthen our countries, to truly increase our cooperation. We must make sure that this cooperation is strengthened. We are very happy that we have multi-sectoral cooperation between our countries. Cooperation that is dedicated to deepening our partnership,” said the Georgian Prime Minister.
Irakli Kobakhidze emphasized that Armenia is among the top ten foreign trade partners of Georgia, and also among the top three in terms of visitors. “We have close cooperation in the fields of education, culture, people-to-people ties, and strategic relations, and on this basis, we have great potential in all directions to further deepen cooperation.
At the same time, it is very important to maintain peace in the region, and we are very happy that the tendencies that have formed in recent months have had such significance for the region. The historical agreement, the agreement that you and Azerbaijan signed is important. All this, of course, provides very good grounds for taking better care of our region. We must make sure that we will do everything in our power to develop our region,” said Irakli Kobakhidze.
According to the Georgian Prime Minister, this bilateral format is extremely important in order to discuss relations in various areas. “And one last thing: Mr. Prime Minister, I personally thank you for your contribution to the development of our bilateral relations, which is very valuable and we appreciate it very much,” noted Irakli Kobakhidze.
In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed his gratitude for organizing and hosting today’s session at a high level, and for his words of appreciation.
“First of all, I would like to thank you for your continuous support in the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We also see and feel Georgia’s support in the development of bilateral trade and economic ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moreover, since independence, no train had entered Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan, but now trains are coming to Armenia through Azerbaijan and Georgia. And we hope that in the near future exports from Armenia will also be carried out by rail. Of course, your support in this matter is invaluable,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
According to the Prime Minister, the parties should pay more attention to the great opportunities that are opening up for the region. “Of course, the international situation is very complicated now, and to a large extent, the regional situation is very complicated. But on the other hand, we hope and are convinced that in any case, the regional perception is very important in strategic terms and we must build our strategies, of course, each of us having our own agenda, but obviously, the regional understanding of opportunities, challenges, and risks is very important,” said the head of Armenia.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, in 2021, a concept appeared in the Government Program of Armenia that was not previously on our political agenda and in our discourse. “We call it regionalization. In this regard, of course, our relations with Georgia have a special significance. I also want to emphasize that in recent years, with the support of Georgia, Georgia’s role in this matter has been extremely important, we are also trying to deepen trilateral regional cooperation between Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. I think this is another direction that has very great prospects, and I hope that in the near future we will have the opportunity to have certain developments in this regard as well,” said the Armenian Prime Minister.
Nikol Pashinyan is convinced that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan improves the atmosphere in our region. The Prime Minister expressed hope that Georgia will also be able to achieve a settlement. “As before, we now also unequivocally support the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Georgia.”
The Prime Minister of Armenia also emphasized the warm, historical ties between the two peoples and added that they are an essential and important value. “But our perception is also that we need to institutionalize that emotional warmth that exists between our peoples, making it the content, support and structure of interstate relations. And I am glad that, in fact, we are working with Georgia with this logic. I thank you for supporting this perception.
Current agendas are also important. We also had the opportunity to discuss with Prime Minister Kobakhidze how to make issues related to daily agendas more effective. I thank the Prime Minister again for his willingness to go ahead and work on this issue on a daily basis, to provide solutions,” concluded Prime Minister Pashinyan.
During the session, issues related to cooperation and future programs in the economy, energy, transport, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and other sectors were discussed.
Steps aimed at developing regional cooperation were discussed. Prime Minister Pashinyan presented details of the work being carried out towards the implementation of the TRIPP project to his Georgian colleagues.
