Tbilisi. Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili and
President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma
Chakrabarti, who is paying a working visit to Georgia, discussed issues of
current and future cooperation on Wednesday, July 17, the press-service of the
head of the Georgian government reports.
Finance Minister of Georgia Nodar Khaduri
and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of the country Giorgi
Kvirikashvili attended the meeting.
"We had a very interesting meeting
with the EBRD President. He was interested very much in the new Georgian
government's points of view regarding strategy of economy development. I told
him about changes, we had implemented in Georgia in all spheres, especially in
the economy sector and focused on planned changes, how we intended to revive
economy", Ivanishvili stated to journalists.
In his turn, the EBRD President expressed
gratitude to the Georgian premier for invitation to visit Georgia.
"We have durable relations with
Georgia, really good partnership. This year EBRD is expected to invest
approximately $200 mln into Georgia. Georgia has great potential",
Chakrabarti noted.
As the press-service of the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development reports, to date, the Bank has invested a
total of ?1.8 billion for 158 projects in various sectors of the Georgian
economy, mobilizing a further ?3 billion for those ventures from other sources
of financing
According to the statement, the EBRD plans
to approve its new country strategy for Georgia in September 2013. The updated
strategy will have three main priorities: fostering private sector investment;
supporting further modernization of the energy sector with a modern regulatory
framework; and promoting Georgia's regional and global economic integration
with an emphasis on projects in the infrastructure, logistics,
telecommunications and financial sectors.