President Gül Attends Closing Session of Turkey-Georgia Business Forum
06.05.2014
Addressing the Turkey-Georgia Business Forum in Tbilisi, President Gül maintained that Turkey and Georgia have supported each other in their difficult times as well and said that “Turkey is the country which the Georgian people visit the most and Georgia is also among the countries that the Turkish people visit the most. 1.6 million Turkish citizens have visited Georgia and 1.8 million people from that country have visited our country. These figures demonstrate the fraternity, neighborhood relations and bonds of trade and investments between the two countries.”
President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili of Georgia attended the closing session of the Turkey-Georgia Business Forum.
FRATERNITY BETWEEN TURKEY AND GEORGIA
President Gül, evincing his happiness to be in Tbilisi, lauded that city for achieving great change for the better since his last visit to the city. Turkey, he said, is pleased to observe that Georgia has succeeded in its political transformation in a peaceful way that befits democracy and that its government has put forward policies which are open to the world with a visionary approach. The President further noted that an important delegation including ministers, MPs and business leaders who have investments at the global level, is accompanying him, which he said shows the importance Turkey attaches to its relations with Georgia.
Turkey and Georgia, the President noted, are both good neighbors and relatives who serve as “one of the basic pillars of our cooperation which is from people to people. We are two countries that have supported each other in their difficult times as well. We lay special emphasis on development activities in such a political atmosphere. The relationship between Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan is also about integration with the European-Atlantic structure and also with such values as democracy, the rule of law and the free market economy. Furthermore, this is also an important political activity that has a regional and global level.”
SIGNIFICANT COOPERATION IN MANY AREAS
Pointing out that some leaders considered the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Gas Pipeline Projects to be impossible to complete, President Gül said these projects have been finalized successfully despite these negative predictions. Today, he noted, through the pipelines via Georgia, oil from the Caucasus and the Midlle East reaches the world markets through Ceyhan, adding that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Project will be completed soon. “An interconnection system has been established between Turkey and Georgia thanks to the last agreement signed through which the surplus of the electricity produced in Georgia will be imported by Turkey and if necessary it will be transfered to Europe through Turkey. Such cooperations will bring prosperity, economic development and peace of course.”
Batumi Airport, which was built and run by a Turkish firm, TAV, is a special airport in that it is used by both countries, reiterated the President, continuing: “The Turkish and Georgian citizens can travel to each other’s countries without visa requirements. They can do it with identitiy cards. This is a kind of integration which Europe was able to achieve after a long process lasting for years. We have achieved this as two neighbors. Turkey is the country which the Georgian people visit the most and Georgia is among the countries that the Turkish people visit the most as well. 1.6 million Turkish citizens have visited Georgia and 1.8 million people from that country have visited our country. These figures demonstrate the fraternity, neighborhood relations and bonds of trade and investments between the two countries.”
The Free Trade Agreement signed between the two countries also encourage trade relations they enjoy, declared President Gül and he further recalled that Georgia will sign the same agreement with the EU soon.
GEORGIAN INTEGRATION WITH EUROPEAN-ATLANTIC SYSTEM
The President later pointed to the huge investment projects that Turkish companies are carrying out in Georgia and noted that 14 hydroelectric power plants have been established with more than 1 billion dollars of investment by Turkish firms, adding that Turkish contractors are conducting some 160 projects in Georgia which are worth nearly 3 billion dollars.
President Gül, underscoring the cruciality of the good practices of the law in a country so that investors can feel secure to conduct business there as well, lauded the Georgian government for having such a vision in this regard, referring to the necessary agreements toward the encouragement of mutual investments. “The economy and politics are interrelated. If there are no political stability and security in a country, there is not an economic development there. We therefore support Georgia’s integration with the European-Atlantic system, as we believe that this will bring both political and economic gains to Georgia. I am saying this as the President of a country which has been a member of the EU Customs Union since 1996 and which has been carrying out its negotiation process with the club for membership. Georgian integration with the European-Atlantic system and our bilateral and regional vision overlap. We also endorse Georgia’s developing relations with the EU as part of the EU’s Eastern Parnership Initiative.”
Recalling that Georgia will sign a partnership agreement with the EU next month, President Gül said that with this agreement, the EU-Georgia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement will be put into practice. The President noted that this agreement will provide great benefits for business leaders and investors such as fast flow of capital, urging Georgian investors to conduct business in Turkey as well.
