The Meeting of the Government of Georgia was held on 24 September 2008. The agenda consisted of 46 items.
Before the commencement of the Meeting, the Prime Minister informed the audience about the results of his London visit. On 19 September Vladimer Gurgenidze met with British Prime Minister Gorgon Brown, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and Opposition Leader David Cameron. The Prime Minister expressed his appreciations to the British Government and opposition for their active support to Georgia in hard times. As part of the visit, the Prime Minister had working meetings with the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, British Central Bank, and Financial Monitoring Agency.
"It is very important that we enjoy complete financial support from Great Britain. It is especially appreciated that amid the global financial crisis they took time to help out Georgia. You know the important role that London plays in financing our economy, our businesses and companies. British investors have invested nearly 900 mln US dollars in the Georgian economy. London-based banks have issued approximately half a billion US dollars in loans to the Georgian banks and companies. So, London is number one financial center for the Georgian economy. At the meeting with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we reached a principle agreement to revise our Double Taxation Agreement with Great Britain in terms of minimizing dividend taxation, a move that is seen to encourage the influx of British investments in our country.
We also met with the President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. EBRD has invested quite a lot in the Georgian economy. At this point, jointly with International Financial Corporation, EBRD is working on a large-scale package to allocate additional funds to our banking sector. This will help Georgian banks to reintroduce business credits in the nearest future that in turn will encourage economic growth," Vladimer Gurgenidze said.
The Prime Minister clarified one of the items of the agenda:
On creation of Georgian Reconstruction and Regional Development Agency. The Agency is being set up on the basis of Municipal Development Fund to implement, with a broader mandate, infrastructure as well as regional projects. The Agency will be involved in the efforts to eliminate the damage incurred as a result of the Russian aggression. The Agency will handle a variety of infrastructure projects, pipelines, canals, accommodation of those made homeless, etc. "The predecessor of the Agency was funded by World Bank and other financial organizations and the tradition will be preserved. Budget funds will also be allocated to the extent we can afford. Within the next few days we'll hold the Meeting of the Supervisory Council to discuss the broadened mandate as well as the new objectives, most of which will have to be addressed in the nearest future," Vladimer Gurgenidze said.
Press Center of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia