2018-10-05
First of all, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Filip for hosting the meeting of GUAM Heads of the Governments here, in Moldova, this beautiful place.
We are proud to see that during the past 21 years, since the establishment, GUAM has transformed into a full-fledged institutional mechanism for regional cooperation, based on partnership, solidarity and mutual respect amongst our four countries.
Taking into consideration new developments and dynamism of the present evolving world, at the meeting we underlined the significance of strengthening political consolidation and interaction within and outside GUAM. We also outlined the concrete steps for enhancing of sectoral cooperation.
We once again reaffirmed the strong commitment to accelerate our efforts for further development of GUAM and for fully exploiting its potential.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to stress Georgia's strong commitment to continue active support of effective functioning of the Organization; deepening cooperation between its Member States, and strengthening the image of GUAM in the international arena.
On today's meeting, we stressed that our common challenges, related to the unresolved conflicts in the GUAM area, bound us to accelerate joint efforts in order to ensure wide international support and adequate response to the continuous violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the GUAM Member States.
We also highlighted the special importance of future cooperation with the existing GUAM partners (USA, Japan), and also emphasized that GUAM remains open for wide interaction with other states and international organizations, based on the shared principles and values. In this regard, I would like to underline the initiative expressed during the Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, on 24th of September in New York, regarding the establishment of cooperation with Canada in GUAM+ format.
We welcomed the 11th Plenary Session of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly with the traditional participation of Baltic Assembly, which was held on 27-28 September, in Chisinau. Today we underscored the importance of the continuation of this positive dynamic and further enhancement of interparliamentary cooperation between the GUAM member states, as well as with other organizations.
At today's meeting, we assessed our endeavors and fruitful interaction extended in many different spheres, such as trade, economy, transport, tourism, law-enforcement, and cybersecurity. We also outlined that GUAM provides all necessary preconditions through the solid institutional framework to further exploit its sectoral potential and to expand our trade and economic relations, deepening economic integration not only between the GUAM Member States but also with other interested countries.
Given a growing international importance attached to the fostering of interregional connectivity, we stressed that GUAM has to play a more active role. In this regard, it is crucial to fully utilize the potential of the GUAM Free Trade Zone and to increase our efforts aiming at enhancing the competitiveness of the GUAM Transport Corridor.
We also discussed the issue of the "Protocol on regulations determining the country of origin of goods to the Agreement on Establishment of Free Trade Area among the GUUAM Participating States" and underlined the importance of finding a compromise in order to submit it for signing at the earliest occasion.
We welcomed the signing of the Protocol among the customs administrations of the GUAM Member States on cooperation in the field of fight against customs offences related to the movement of goods by air transport across the state borders of the GUAM Member States, that will strive to develop customs cooperation between our countries.
We strongly believe that deeper sectoral cooperation within GUAM will bring tangible results to our people, entrepreneurs and societies as a whole. Further development of people-to-people contacts, entrepreneurship, creativity and sustainability is the right key for the successful future of our nations.
In closing, I would like to reiterate that Georgia will continue to play an active role in supporting GUAM as an open, beneficial and result-oriented organization, making it more modern, streamlined and effective.
Prime Minister's Press Office