Belarus, Georgia seek to increase trade turnover
By Gunay Hasanova
Belarus and Georgia have been successfully working on reaching $200 million in mutual trade, Georgian Ambassador to Belarus David Kotaria told a press conference.
The diplomat noted that concrete tasks on increasing bilateral trade were outlined after Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili’s recent visit to Belarus, BelTA reported.
“Active steps have been taken to achieve the goal to reach $200 million in mutual trade. In 2016 there is confidence that these figures are attainable. Concrete results have already been produced,” Kotaria said.
He added that Georgia is interested in developing exports and imports. “We are interested in setting up joint companies both in Georgia and Belarus, using all the opportunities and cooperation areas. Tourism is one of the most active areas of cooperation. The number of Belarusian tourists to Georgia has soared by 60-70% in the past year,” the Georgian diplomat said.
Kotaria further said that Georgia is interested in developing its national brands on the Belarusian market. Thus, one of the most recognizable brands of Georgia in Belarus is Borjomi. He expressed confidence that the Belarusian embassy in Georgia would add a powerful impetus to further development of relations between the two countries.
Previously, Belarus' Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said that the trade turnover between Belarus and Georgia totaled almost $45 million last year, adding that these figures are not big, but the positive fact is that the countries were able to balance their trade: exports and imports correspond to each other, which proves that both sides need each other's partnership.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established two decades ago. Nevertheless, the bilateral potential has not been fully used.
Last year the two countries considerably intensified the bilateral political and economic relations. A serious impetus to this process was given by the visit of the President of Belarus to Tbilisi and Batumi in April 2015.
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