The Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili made a speech on September 22 at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, highlighting that the South Caucasus should become a “region of opportunities and economic growth.”
“Despite the complex situation in our region, we spare no effort to foster rapprochement between our neighbors. We have already had success stories, including the safe return of 15 Armenian detainees to their homeland in exchange for maps of mined territories to Azerbaijan,” Garibashvili noted.
In his address, the PM mentioned that for the first time the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Tbilisi this July. His government is prepared to “serve as a venue for this dialogue” and bring “much-needed peace and stability to our region.” “With this in mind, Georgia has been promoting the Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative, which envisions participation by all three states of the South Caucasus. This new initiative is not substituting, countering, or opposing any other cooperation formats. Georgia serves as an honest broker to aid in normalizing regional relations,” Garibashvili stated.
Garibashvili said his government is “heavily investing in our country’s [Georgia’s] infrastructure” to “increase Georgian transit capabilities for the benefit of the region.” His team’s main focus, he said, is to boost institutional foreign investment, facilitate projects of regional importance, and strengthen Georgia’s infrastructural capabilities allowing Georgia to become a “bridge between East and West”.
“Our goal is to transform the South Caucasus into a region of opportunities and economic growth,” underlined the PM. The PM claimed that his team is discussing with EU counterparts a list of “flagship projects” in order to create greater economic synergies and act as a catalyst for more connection and integration with the EU and its markets.
“We believe all countries of the South Caucasus and allies from the West will benefit from this collaboration. We must act now to secure the Black Sea, protect energy routes, maintain supply chains, and increase regional connectivity to foster greater economic development. These are all essential to European peace and prosperity,”
Garibashvili asserted.
Security brings stability, & stability brings predictability. 🇬🇪 has been promoting the Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative, which envisions participation by all three states of the South Caucasus. 🇬🇪 serves as an honest broker to aid in normalizing regional relations. #UNGA
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) September 22, 2022
By Sophie Hodler
