(Messenger.com.ge) - Germany signed an agreement with the Georgian government on Wednesday on the allocation of Euro 8 million to continue implementation of eight ongoing projects in different sectors, including justice and food safety.
The Georgian Finance Ministry said the projects are a part of the technical cooperation between two countries and are implemented by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), an organization working on different political, economic and social projects worldwide, reports Trend.
"This agreement will make our relations and these ongoing projects more effective and focused on current national priorities," the Georgian Finance Minister, Aleksi Aleksishvili, said Wednesday.
The German Ambassador to Georgia, HE Patricia Flor, said one of the projects calls for technical assistance to the reform of the Georgian justice system. This project was started in 1998 and is set to be completed at the end of 2006.
Another project deals with working out the wine quality system in Georgia, "to develop a wine laboratory which then can assist in certifying the quality of Georgian wine, of course this will assist in exporting Georgian wine to other markets," HE Flor told The Messenger.
Other projects include technical assistance to the Georgian Chamber of Control, land management reform, assistance in utilities provision in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park region, and a project on improving food safety in Georgia.
The German government has allotted Euro 40 million for technical assistance in healthcare, the economy, agriculture and justice from 1992 to 2005. However, HE Flor said Wednesday the total amount of German assistance to Georgia since its independence in 1992 has reached Euro 250 million.
Projects under the Caucasus Initiative, which supports the political and economic cooperation of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, are also to be financed in the scope of the agreement.
A day earlier the ministry of finance signed an agreement with the Netherlands on the implementation of two projects on developing the private sector and solving water problems in Georgia.