Georgia can become a leading player on the world market - diplomat

Georgia can become a leading player in the global trade market thanks to cooperation with China and the EU, former Georgian Ambassador to China Archil Kalandia said.

Georgia's transit role plays a special role in economic development, given the existing free trade agreements with China, Turkey and the EU. To strengthen Georgia's role, a large-scale project is underway to build part of the East-West highway that links Asia and Europe through Georgia.

“In my opinion, today we have a unique opportunity for Georgia, without any exaggeration, to become one of the key players in global trade,” Kalandia noted.

According to him, Georgia should play a leading role in the trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU.

“This creates an additional opportunity for Georgia to become one of the key players in the region in terms of access to both Chinese and European markets,” Kalandia noted.

According to him, through the Middle Corridor and other projects, Georgia has an opportunity to become a transit country for rail transportation from China to European countries.

Middle Corridor

The corridor route currently runs from the China-Kazakhstan border through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia to Europe.

In June 2022, the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan agreed to enhance trilateral and regional cooperation and capacity building of the East-West Middle Corridor across the Caspian Sea. Turkey initiated the inclusion of Georgia in the corridor as part of the transit route.

Currently, 25 companies from 11 countries are represented in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route project.

Along with a large-scale project to build part of the East-West route, a project to build the country's first deep-water port in the town of Anaklia in western Georgia is also underway to strengthen Georgia's role.

Reprinted from https://sputnik-georgia.ru/