Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Georgia on a working visit. The Prime Minister was welcomed by Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili at Tbilisi International Airport.
The 15th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia will take place on March 4.
A private meeting between the Prime Ministers of Armenia and Georgia, Nikol Pashinyan and Irakli Kobakhidze, is also scheduled.
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A private meeting was held between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze.
The interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues related to the agenda of bilateral strategic relations. The consistent development and expansion of trade and economic cooperation were emphasized. In this context, the holding of the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia, which will be held today, was emphasized. The parties expressed confidence that it will give a new impetus to the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in various fields.
The prime ministers also exchanged views on a number of issues of regional importance. The continuity of steps aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region was emphasized.
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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.
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Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze signed the minutes of the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Armenia and Georgia. Then the prime ministers of the two countries made statements summarizing the results of the session.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze – Dear journalists, let me once again welcome my Armenian colleague, Mr. Nikol Pashinyan, and welcome the Armenian delegation to Georgia. As you may know, the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Armenia and Georgia took place.
A moment ago, we had a very interesting discussion there with the participation of relevant state officials and ministers on various topics, on various issues of cooperation between the two countries. We see that there is a difficult situation around us, especially against the background of all this, it is very important to further deepen our cooperation. We are connected by historical friendly ties between our countries, our peoples, and this serves as the basis for a strategic partnership between Armenia and Georgia.
Of course, we are very happy and excited that we have a very high level of cooperation and are always interested in deepening our strategic partnership, deepening strategic friendly ties between our countries. The basis of this friendship is mutual respect, common interests.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Armenia for supporting our national interests, for respecting our interests, especially for supporting our territorial integrity and sovereignty, including within the framework of the Commisssion meeting. I thanked my colleague for supporting the resolution in support of Georgia in the UN General Assembly.
Today we discussed the bilateral agenda, discussed various topics, cooperation in various fields, discussed cooperation in education, sports, culture and other areas. I would like to emphasize once again that cooperation is at a high level. However, we still have potential, we still have unrealized potential and prospects. I would like to highlight our very successful trade and economic cooperation. In terms of trade, Armenia is in the top ten of Georgia’s foreign trade partners, in terms of travel and tourism, Armenia is in the top three for Georgia, and it is very valuable to have such cooperation and to deepen it in the field of tourism. We are very happy that the interest of visitors from Armenia to Georgia is increasing. We must further deepen this cooperation.
We are excited that a very positive trend is observed in terms of establishing regional cooperation. We are happy and emphasized this at the meeting of the intergovernmental commission. We are happy, we are happy that a historic agreement was signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. These positive trends form a very positive basis for us to ensure stability and peace in the region. In this context, I would like to emphasize once again that we are ready to continue supporting peacebuilding and stability in the region. In this regard, Georgia will spare no effort.
I would like to once again emphasize the excellent cooperation between our countries – partnership, friendship and exemplary ties between the peoples of our countries. We bear responsibility towards our countries, our peoples. We must do everything in our power to further deepen and strengthen our friendly, partnership ties.
In conclusion, I would like to personally thank Prime Minister Pashinyan for his personal contribution to the deepening of our friendly ties. Thank you.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you very much. Honorable Prime Minister Kobakhidze, esteemed members of the Government of Armenia and the Government of Georgia, I would first like to express my joy on the occasion of our regular meeting. Of course, our format is called the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Armenia and Georgia, and we are already holding our 15th session, but our understanding is strengthened by the fact that the key goal of political agendas is to achieve economic results and development. And I consider it very important to emphasize that we discussed numerous issues on the bilateral, regional, and international agenda, also to see where we have greater potential for cooperation.
First of all, I would like to once again thank Prime Minister Kobakhidze for his personal support to the ongoing peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as for his constant support to the state and people of Georgia. That support continues, we see. You know that today economic ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan are being established with the support and assistance of Georgia. This is highly appreciated by us.
Of course, economic cooperation between Armenia and Georgia is deepening, developing and building on long-established traditions. There is no secret that Georgia has been, is and continues to be one of the most favorite destinations for Armenian tourists. We are happy to see that visits from Armenia to Georgia are increasing. At the same time, we are happy to see that visits from Georgia to Armenia are increasing. This is also a very important expression of our active political cooperation. We cooperate in the fields of culture, sports, economy, education, and science. Our ministers today had the opportunity to share the experience of the previous period.
I am very happy to note that Armenia and Georgia have been actively cooperating on international platforms. We consider it very important to establish long-term stability and peace in the region based on the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of Georgia. Armenia and Azerbaijan have built peace on this very basis and are building peace. I believe that this is truly a historic opportunity for our region. I would like to wish that this long-term peace, normalisation will also be established in Georgia. Here, it must be said directly that we are very interested in it, because we see that there is a great historical opportunity to overcome the difficult fate of our region, and we hope that this opportunity will be used.
Of course, I informed our partners in detail about what is happening on Armenia’s international and regional agenda, in particular, what is happening around the TRIPP investment project, in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, in Armenia-Türkiye relations, and I also provided some information on Armenia-Russia relations.
I think we have a mutual interest in the relations between Armenia and the European Union. I would like to emphasize again, and I have had the opportunity to emphasize before, that Georgia is a very important partner in the context of relations between Armenia and the European Union. And we had some discussions on this topic as well. I hope that we will be able to cooperate here as well, and that we will be able to achieve certain results here as well.
Of course, political dialogue and economic cooperation have been, are and remain very active. We have a task to see where we can cooperate in order to manage challenges more effectively and use opportunities more effectively.
Of course, in such meetings, seeing our friends, seeing each other, asking how they are, and of course enjoying the pleasure of spending time with them is not at all secondary.
Once again, I want to thank you for that atmosphere, warm welcome and opportunity. Every time, after these meetings, the first thing we think about is when the next meeting will take place. And I hope and am sure that by the results of the next meeting, we will be able to record that as a result of our agreements, Armenia-Georgia cooperation on bilateral, regional and international platforms has become more active and effective. I would like to thank Prime Minister Kobakhidze again for such readiness and support and, of course, for this warm, fraternal reception. Thank you.