The official visit of European Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström

The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, George Kobulia held a meeting with the European Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström within the frames of her official visit to Georgia. 

During the meeting, parties discussed the implementation process of Georgia’s commitments under the Free Trade Agreement with the EU, as well as the prospects for Georgian companies to export their products and services to the EU market.

“We have held a very fruitful meeting today. We discussed the ways that would allow Georgian companies to introduce more products at the EU market,” stated the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, George Kobulia. The Minister noted that barriers to Georgian producers are the compliance of locally produced products with the EU standards and requirements. “The European Union and the European Commission will continue to assist our small and medium-sized businesses to achieve standards that are required to be accepted into the EU market. In addition, we will also work with local entrepreneurs, provide them with the relevant information and help them to export their production to the European markets,” noted George Kobulia.

The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and the European Commissioner for Trade also discussed matters related to increasing the efficiency of Georgia’s logistics and transportation systems. “We need to increase the effectiveness of Georgia’s transportation and logistics infrastructure in order to decrease the transportation cost to the EU market and allow our entrepreneurs to export their goods for a cheaper price,” asserted George Kobulia.  

The meeting also focused on the accompanying challenges regarding the implementation of the commitments under the EU integration process, which include the lack of laboratories required to inspect products to determine their compliance with the relevant requirements and for market surveillance.

“It has been a really fruitful meeting. We see that the trade relations are healthy but there are a lot of untapped potential within the Free Trade Agreement and we discussed with the Minister of Economy how we can jointly work to make sure that Georgian companies take the full benefit from the opportunities,” commented Cecilia Malmström, the European Commissioner for Trade.