On 27-29 March, Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli was on a working visit to the Republic of Austria.
As part of the visit, the Prime Minister met Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Wolfgang Schussel and President of the Republic of Austria Heinz Fischer. Zurab Noghaideli also held meetings in OSCE and delivered a speech at the Permanent Council of OSCE. The Prime Minister took part in the meeting of Austria-Georgian Business Council and met major businessmen of Austria.
The Prime Minister held his first meeting with Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, the General Secretary of OSCE. The parties discussed the recent situation in Tskhinvali Region.
Zurab Noghaideli touched upon the same issues in his speech that he delivered at the meeting of the Permanent Council of OSCE. He highlighted the achievements in the development of the state, namely the breakthroughs in building democracy, local government, economic and social sectors, and within this context touched upon the steps that the Government of Georgia has made and intends to make towards settling the conflict in Tskhinvali Region.
It was noted that the situation in Tskhinvali Region has deteriorated considerably. The Prime Minister remembered the recent facts - that in the region they have discovered heavy weapons, recovered a large amount of counterfeit money, and detected a large number of smuggling. As Zurab Noghaideli said, against such background, the fact that OSCE observers mission was denied access to the region further aggrevates the situation. According to the Prime Minister, the situation is undermining not only the statehood of Georgia but also the security and stability of all the OSCE member-countries.
As one of the steps to remedy the situation, the Prime Minister said it was necessary to set up a joint Georgian-Ossetian police unit and open a checkpoint near Gupta, a populated area.
As the Prime Minister stated, it is necessary to develop a cooperation-based approach, primarily with the involvement of Russia, in tackling these issues.
Zurab Noghaideli expressed his regret that the unilateral steps taken by the Georgian side towards demilitarization have not evoked adequate steps from the opposing side.
The Prime Minister also talked about the steps that the Government of Georgia had taken towards regaining trust. He singled out the law of restitution that would be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia for approval within the following few days. He also touched upon the projects initiated by the Government of Georgia towards rehabilitation of the social infrastructure in the region - schools, kindergartens and hospitals.
In this respect, Zurab Noghaideli focused attention on the activities of the OSCE Assessment Mission and the donors' conference scheduled to take place in Brussels in May that year based on the assessment results.
In his speech, the Prime Minister unveiled the decision of the Government of Georgia to allocate the same amount of money towards rehabilitation of the region that would be allocated by the donors.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister said: "the Government of Georgia is not orientated on the past and is not looking for the criminals. We are committed to achieving a real progress and are ready to make specific steps. We are considering only a peaceful resolution of the conflict. This calls for a huge amount of efforts, patience and compromise. Now it is clear for all that Georgia is fulfilling her commitments before the international community. We remain committed to this course to maintain the image of a constructive and responsible country."
The same day, the Prime Minister met Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Wolfgang Schussel and President of the Republic of Austria Heinz Fischer.
The Prime Minister highlighted the situation in Tskhinvali Region and talked about the steps made by the Government of Georgia. Zurab Noghaideli welcomed the idea of intensification of the EU efforts to settle conflicts within the territory of Georgia and expressed satisfaction over the support that Austria as a chair country of the European Union is rendering to Georgia. He singled out the statements made on behalf of the European Union (including the statement made at the March 27 Meeting of the Permanent Council of the OSCE) in connection with the resolution of the conflict in Tskhinvali Region. The Prime Minister also appreciated the EU wish to take part in the rehabilitation projects in the region.
Zurab Noghaideli expressed satisfaction over the progress of the talks regarding the Georgia Action Plan of the European Neighbourhood Policy. It was noted that the Government of Georgia takes a pragmatic approach to the situation and at this point puts high on the agenda to develop an action plan tailored to the actual needs. The Austrian delegation supported the wish expressed by the Prime Minister to discuss the matter of signing a free trade agreement between Georgia and the European Union, and on the first stage with Turkey, a member of the European Customs Union.
When discussing the issue of energy security, it was noted that the entire European continent is facing the need to develop and pursue a uniform energy security policy, the core element of which must be diversification of sources. In this respect, emphasis was placed on the potential of Georgia as a transit country and on the opportunity to integrate the existing projects (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum) into a system of regional (European) level.
The discussion also revolved around the issues of bilateral relations. The Prime Minister expressed hope that Austrian investors would show interest in Georgia. The parties appreciated the execution of an annex to the air transport agreement within the framework of the visit that is hoped to significantly liberalize air traffic between the two countries.
On the second day of the visit, Zurab Noghaideli opened the Austria-Georgian Business Council, at which the top officials of the Austrian Economic Chamber and major Austrian businessmen were present.
The forum mainly touched upon transport and communications, energy and banking sectors. Among others, the representatives of the executive power of Georgia and foreign businessmen doing business in Georgia delivered speeches at the forum.
The Prime Minister highlighted the reforms undertaken in the Georgian economy and the positive investment environment in the country. The streamlined system of the current Tax Code of Georgia and the economic growth rate that reached 9.3% in 2005 sparked interest among the guests.
In the second part of the forum, Georgian businessmen held negotiations with their Austrian partners and arrived at real decisions. Right after the Prime Minister's speech, the Austrian businessmen demonstrated real interest in the opportunities to invest in the energy sector.
The Prime Minister also met the top officials of the Economic Chamber of Austria. The parties discussed the opportunities for intensification of business relations between the two countries. It was noted that despite the absolute volume of economic relations between the European Union and Georgia, compared with the previous year, the year 2005 saw a doubling of the trade volume. In this respect, great importance was attached to the potential of Austria to invest in Georgia. It is worth mentioning that Austria is a leader in terms of the volume of direct investments made in the countries of Eastern Europe.
On the last day of the visit, the Prime Minister met major Austrian businessmen and the representatives of the banking sector. The visit provided the opportunity for organize a return visit of the Austrian businessmen to Georgian in 2006 in order for them to learn on site the opportunities for investing in Georgia.
Prime Minister's Press Service