MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

Prospects for economic collaboration with the new US administration were under discussion between the First Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili, and the US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Georgia, Robin L. Dunnigan, at a meeting held at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. The Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Genadi Arveladze, and the Deputy Head of the Economic Affairs Section of the US Embassy, Diana Costa also participated in the meeting.

Davitashvili provided an overview of Georgia's economic priorities, emphasising the mutual opportunities of significance to both nations. The parties further considered the economic priorities outlined by the new US administration, along with matters of cooperation across various sectors, including such important directors as the promotion of investment and collaboration in innovation and technology, trade, transport and logistics, the Middle Corridor, and energy.

It was noted during the meeting that plans are afoot for the establishment of the first Georgian technological hub outside of Georgia, scheduled for this year in San Francisco. The hub's remit will be to bolster the internationalisation of Georgian start-up companies and their access to global markets, as well as to attract global technology firms, foreign venture capital funds, and angel investor networks to Georgia's innovation ecosystem. Ambassador Dunnigan affirmed that the US Embassy would provide active support to this project, which is to be jointly implemented by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Innovation and Technology Agency of the Ministry of Economy.

At the gathering held at the Ministry of Economy, the facilitation of trade missions between the two countries was also on the agenda. It was relayed that, within the coming months, Georgian companies are set to visit the United States, and American companies will reciprocate with a visit to Georgia, under the auspices of these missions. The Ministry of Economy of Georgia and the US Embassy in Georgia will lend their full support to these trade missions.