Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4
Trend:
Georgia and Azerbaijan plan to build the first joint border crossing point within the framework of the "One Belt - One Road" initiative, Georgian Finance Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said at the 51st annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank on May 3-6, Novosti-Georgia reported.
"Georgia fully supports the concept of the Asian Development Bank on the trade without barriers. From this point of view, we together with Azerbaijan are considering possibility of building the first joint border point," Bakhtadze said.
However, the minister did not disclose any details of the new project.
According to Bakhtadze, Georgia needs even more mobilization of the financial resources to participate in the New Silk Road project.
"If we look at strategies of the countries involved in the Silk Road Initiative, we can see that all countries are heavily investing in the infrastructure. Georgia is one of the most active countries from this point of view, however, we need even more mobilization of the financial resources and greater expansion of the economic ties," Bakhtadze said.
The minister noted that the Georgian authorities’ efforts within the framework of the initiative contribute to further integration of the entire region into the world economy.
"Today, Georgia is the only country in the region that has free trade regimes both with the European Union and China," the minister said.
China announced a new strategy for economic development – the "One Belt - One Road" initiative aimed at creating infrastructure and establishing links among the Eurasian countries back in 2013. The strategy includes two key areas of development: the economic belt of the Silk Road and maritime Silk Road. The matter is about creating a trade corridor for direct deliveries of the goods from the East to the West on preferential terms.