Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

French Foreign Trade Minister Nicole Bricq met with Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili during her visit to Georgia on November 25.

The main topics of their discussion were deepening of the Georgian-French economic relations and the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in Vilnius on November 28-29.

"We spoke about an extremely interesting one year, which will begin in several days - from initiating the Association Agreement [at the Vilnius summit later next week] to its signing," President Margvelashvili said. "During this period, we plan to cooperate actively with France."

Prime Minister Garibashvili, who met with Bricq together with Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, welcomed "active support" provided by France in the process of preparations for the signing of Association Agreement with the EU.

Moreover, Bricq held a separate meeting with Georgia's Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri, where the sides discussed trade and economic relations between the two countries, as well as those projects, which are being implemented in Georgia with the support of France.

"We mulled many specific topics, including possible French investments," Khaduri said.

"We discussed projects, already begun, as well as those, which are planned for the future. It is planned to open an office of the French Development Agency in Tbilisi, and this is very important for the development of the Georgian-French relations."

Moreover, Khaduri said that they agreed to hold a Georgian-French business forum in the near future.

During the meeting, Khaduri expressed the hope that the Association Agreement will enter into force as quickly as possible after its initialing and signing. According to the minister, this agreement will assist in the economic development of Georgia and its integration into European structures.

According to the Georgian statistics body GeoStat, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $164.3 million in the first ten months of 2013. During this period, imports from France amounted to $141.5 million, while exports from Georgia - $22.7 million.