Georgian PM Hosts Armenian Counterpart

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili hosted his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan in Tbilisi today. The two officials held a face-to-face meeting and then participated in the meeting of the Georgian-Armenian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The two PMs during their meeting discussed the situation in the region and highlighted the importance of common efforts in addressing the regional challenges, according to the Georgian Government’s press service.

For supporting peace and stability in the region, the PM Garibashvili stressed the importance of Georgia’s Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative, which would see Tbilisi host an international gathering which would include Armenia, Azerbaijan, the U.S. and the EU to facilitate dialogue and confidence-building in the South Caucasus.

As for the Intergovernmental Commission, the Georgian PM highlighted its role in bolstering the political and economic ties between the two countries.

In his speech during the Commission meeting, PM Garibashvili highlighted that “such a relationship has not existed between our countries.”

Noting that Armenia and Georgia have “always had very close and friendly relations,” the Georgian PM asserted that “no misunderstanding exists between our governments and countries, great merits to us. We truly have ideal relations.”

He stressed that “we are interested in converting the very close, friendly cooperation between us into real work,” including developing trade ties and discussing infrastructure projects. 

The Prime Minister also pledged that Georgia stands ready “to contribute and participate in advancing the pan-regional peace and stability.” 

The Armenian PM, on his part, highlighted that the two countries aim to increase trade turnover to USD 1 billion by 2026. The trade volume was USD 610 million in 2020.

Besides trade, PM Pashinyan highlighted the importance of cooperating in energy, technology, tourism and agriculture.

He also emphasized the need to make “our political relations more institutional” as well as highlighted that friendly relations between the two countries contribute to maintaining security and stability in the region.

This was PM Pashinyan’s second visit to Georgia this year. PM Garibashvili, on his part, has also visited Yerevan twice.

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