Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Georgia and the European Union have concluded negotiations on an agreement on the deep and comprehensive free trade during the meeting of foreign ministers of the Eastern Partnership countries with the ambassadors of the European Union in Brussels, on July 22, EU representation in Georgia reported.

"The agreement will improve access to goods and services from Georgia to the EU market. It is expected that after the signing of the agreement the flow of direct investment from Europe will increase. Independent researches have shown that the free trade area will increase Georgia's exports to the EU by 12 percent, while imports from the EU to Georgia - by 7.5 percent," statement said.

Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Kvirikashvili said it is "very important step" ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius to be held November, 2013.

"This agreement provides not only the liberalization of tariffs, but the removal of technical barriers to entry Georgian products and services into the European market. It is important to note that it covers 28 countries with population of more than half a billion people," Kvirikashvili said.

The minister said today the EU is the largest trading partner of Georgia.

"The trade turnover with the EU is $28 billion, $24 billion of which accounts for import and $400 million for export. Now the legal expertise of the agreement and its preparation for the signing begins. It is another evidence of the European choice of Georgia. The long process of negotiations has shown that Georgia has relations with European partners based on mutual trust," Kvirikashvili said.

The first round of formal negotiations on the EU-Georgia agreement on the zone of deep and comprehensive free trade, which is a component of the association agreement with the EU, a part of the initiative of the Eastern Partnership program, was held in Tbilisi in March, 2012. It took seven rounds to complete the negotiations.

Georgia expects initialing of the association agreement with the EU at the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius on November 28-29. The Georgian government announced that it will use the best efforts to achieve certain results.

Meanwhile German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle thinks that Europe will be imperfect without the Eastern Partnership program.

"I attach great importance to the Eastern Partnership," Westerwelle said. "I think that Europe has a perspective and future. We must pay attention to the Eastern Partnership program, as it is our duty and responsibility."

According to him, Germany is actively participating in this process.

Eastern Partnership is the Polish-Swedish initiative under the EU Neighborhood Policy, which is aimed to improve EU relations with six former Soviet countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. The project provided for the allocation of 600 million euros to EU countries, which is intended to strengthen state institutions, control borders and help to small companies.