MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Georgia Seminar Day within the framework of the 57th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank.

“Georgia has a longstanding cooperation with the ADB, having received up to 4,5 billion dollar-worth investments in various key infrastructural projects and today’s event marks a significant turning point in promoting shared and sustainable development in the wake of immense challenges in the region posed by the Pandemic and recent geopolitical conflicts,” – Levan Davitashvili stated in his speech.

Davitashvili highlighted that despite the large macroeconomic impacts caused by the pandemic, the crises provided us with new approaches and innovative ideas to refocus and reinvigorate efforts towards accelerated regional economic development.

“It is a great pleasure to be here with you today and to have the opportunity to speak on a topic that has been at the centre of Government of Georgia’s attention for many years already – “Connectivity”. In its broader sense, connectivity encompasses many areas including communications, energy, and transport. While each sector can be discussed separately, it is important to keep in mind the synergistic and cumulative impact they can have on our countries and economies. Notably, Georgia's economy has shown remarkable post-pandemic recovery, with economic growth reaching double-digit figures of 10,6% and 11,0% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The trend continued with a growth rate of 7,5% in 2023 and 7,7% in January- February 2024,” – First Vice Prime Minister noted.

As Davitashvili stated, Along with structural reforms, the enhancement of regional connectivity is instrumental in ensuring economic resilience and sustained long-term growth. He stressed on the fact that the private sector and international financial institutions play a pivotal role in accelerating the realization of strategic connectivity projects and expressed gratefulness to the ADB and other financial institutions for their long-standing support in building quality infrastructure in Georgia.

“Amidst the current challenging global landscape and increasing need for supply chain diversification, the Middle Corridor is rapidly gaining popularity as a perfectly suitable alternative for facilitating trade flows between Europe and Asia with its multiple routing options through Black Sea Ports or land routes. As far as Georgia’s infrastructure is concerned, we are actively developing the country’s transport network, through various projects such as Railway Modernization, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, East-West Highway and Anaklia Deep Sea Port development, among others. These strategic investments are aimed at strengthening the role of Georgia as a bridge between Europe and Asia while ensuring respective capacities to accommodate the ever-growing traffic flows,” – the Minister said.

The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development also emphasized the importance of the role of Georgia in terms of energy connectivity. According to him, the most ambitious project among the others is the Black Sea submarine cable project, which will strengthen the regional connectivity in a whole.

“The importance of the project for both Europe as well as the Caucasus cannot be overstated: not only will it diversify supply routes, reducing supply risks, but this cable has a great potential to promote the development of renewable energy sources in Georgia and the broader region too” – the First Vice Prime Minister said.