On November 14, 2007, one-day working visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli was held in the Republic of Turkey.
Within the framework of the visit, the prime minister held meetings with the President of the Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gull, the State Minister Kurshad Tuzmen, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Koksal Toptan and the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Discussions at the meetings touched upon concrete issues, including economic cooperation between our two countries in particular. The parties stated that negotiations on the free trade agreement are completed in fact and in a few days, after the ceremony on the occasion of commencement of the construction of Akhalkalaki-Kharsi railroad, the agreement on free trade and evading double tax will be signed.
On this Zurab Noghaideli stated the following: "It will give us opportunity to expedite development of trade as well as economic relations between our two countries; we are expecting approximately 2 billion dollar foreign capital investment from Turkey, which will considerably enhance development of Georgia’s export potential”. He also emphasized that it is of paramount importance for the country to gain a new market, especially now, when the Russian market (especially for the agricultural products) is practically blocked for us. After signing the above mentioned agreement Turkish market will be an excellent substitute for Russia.
Issues related to conflict resolution were also discussed at the meetings. The position of Turkey in this respect keeps unchanged. The country supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and settlement of the conflicts within the frames of integral territorial borders, as it was emphasized by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the joint press conference which was held after the meeting of the prime ministers of both countries, Zurab Noghaideli stated that Georgia expects Turkey to play a more active role of a mediator in conflict resolution in Georgia.
At the end of the visit, the prime minister of Georgia gave a speech at the Turkish-Georgian Business Round Table organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).
Prime Minister's Press Service