The FINANCIAL — Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and U.S. Ambassador Kelly Degnan inspected construction of a new terminal at Kutaisi International Airport. After the renovation, Kutaisi Airport can handle 1200 passengers per hour, quadrupling its previous capacity. Ambassador Degnan also visited, Kutaisi Military Lyceum. Yesterday, Natia Turnava held a farewell meeting with Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to Georgia.
Natia Turnava and Kelly Degnan, US Ambassador to Georgia inspected ongoing construction works of a new terminal at Kutaisi International Airport. Reconstruction of the old terminal will begin afterwards and connection phase of old and new terminals will be launched then. Kutaisi International Airport will have arrival and departure halls provided with modern equipment for operation of an airport of international standards, as reported by Georgian Public Broadcasting.
In February of 2020, USAID Economic Security Program signed a memorandum of understanding with United Airports of Georgia to support the expansion of Kutaisi International Airport. With workforce training and marketing support, the United States will help the airport drive economic growth in Imereti and across Georgia. Through the Economic Security Program, USAID partners with Georgia’s Government and private sector to help businesses earn higher revenues, create jobs, and become more competitive in international markets.
U.S. Ambassador Kelly Degnan stated that The United States is very proud to support the Georgian Government and the United Air Force of Georgia in their effort to expand the Kutaisi airport. “We’ve just done a tour of the new facility that is underway right now and it’s going to increase the flow of passengers almost five times, as soon as it’s finished. It’s a beautiful design and going to be truly a beautiful airport,” Ms degnan added.
Also, Ambassador Degnan thinks that this project is important to Georgia and the United States wants to support it because it’s going to increase high-paying jobs that are needed to staff an airport and keep it running at the highest level. She also stated that “she’s happy to say that Kutaisi is not only going to be a new airport, it’s also the safest airport in Europe because they have incorporated all the regulations and requirements generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. “
Ambassador Degnan also visited, Kutaisi Military Lyceum, where she had “very interesting and useful briefing.” She said that, it’s very encouraging to hear the level of cooperation and participation that we have between the United States and Georgia out here working on training, working on equipping, working on structural issues. ” It’s a very tight partnership and a big part of why Georgia and the United States stand together in so many parts of the world, including Afghanistan.”
Yesterday, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natia Turnava held a farewell meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria to Georgia, Arad Benkö. Deputy Minister Genadi Arveladze also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, the main topic of conversation were the bilateral economic relations between Georgia and Austria during the last four years and the positive dynamics of their development. Natia Turnava and Arad Benkö emphasized the importance of the fact that the number of Austrian companies operating in Georgia is increasing day by day.
“This is the evidenced by the latest fact – the entry of a member of the Austrian giant OMV Group in the oil and gas field in Georgia. This is another proof that Georgia is a very attractive business platform and market for the Austrian companies as well as the European companies in general. There is more to be done in the future. We are practically pursuing a more aggressive, proactive investment policy to take advantage of all the opportunities that global businesses will face after the pandemic, and of course Austrian businesses are one of our targets,” – Natia Turnava said.
As the Minister of Economy stated after the meeting, the Austrian Ambassador positively assessed the recently increased attractiveness of Georgia both in terms of tourism and business potential.
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