2014-01-25
The visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia to Switzerland started on 22nd of January. The head of the government participated in the 44th world economic forum of Davos. The prime minister delivered speeches at the sessions - "Eurasia - the next margin" and "South Caucasus and Central Asia: the way to the global economy" where he spoke about the advantages of the energy sector, economic growth potential and challenges of inter-regional integration. He also participated in the "World leaders' informal meeting" where the economic priorities for the coming year were determined. Within the visit Irakli Garibashvili conducted face-to-face meeting with first persons of some of the countries. Among them were: Presidents of the Swiss and Estonia Confederation, the prime minister of Finland. At the meeting with Prince of Saudi Arabia Turki Al Faisal it was mentioned that Saudi Arabia is ready to put investments in Georgia. Irakli Garibashvili also met the minister of foreign affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt who stated that Georgia would sign the association agreement till August. Within the world economic forum there were meetings with the representatives of the world leading companies: LAZARD, TATA SONS LTD, EMAAR PROPERTIES, JUMEIRAH GROUP, BLACKSTONE GROUP, LAFARGE, AGILITY LOGISTICS, AGCO, ROYAL PHIPIPS, MOLLER MAERSK. The heads of the companies were interested in the current business environment of Georgia. They expressed their wish to make investments in Georgian energy sector, in the fields of agriculture and tourism. The prime minister of Georgia also held meetings with the heads of the World Bank and bank of European reconstruction and development. As the president of EBRD Suma Chakrabarti stated after the meeting, the decision was made to conduct EBRD annual meeting in Tbilisi in 2015. This will be the first large-scale meeting in Caucasus which will give Georgia an opportunity to attract a new flow of investments. In addition EBRD plans to put new investments in Georgian energy sector. During the visit the prime minister of Georgia was in the centre of attention from foreign media. Irakli Garibashvili's live interview was conducted by television CNBC. Also the prime minister gave an interview to the agency BLOOMBERG. The delegation of Georgia consisted of the minister of economic and sustainable development Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the minister of foreign affairs Maia Panjikidze, executive director of the Georgian co-investment fund Giorgi Bachiashvili, director of national investment agency Giorgi Pertaia, also general director of "Georgian Railway" Mamuka Bakhtadze.
Prime Minister's Press Service