France and Georgia have agreed to expand areas of co-operation

The FINANCIAL — France supports the ongoing reforms in Georgia, the country’s European integration and is ready to further expand co-operation between the two countries in various areas – French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault said during his meeting with his Georgian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze who is on his official visit to France.

Jean-Marc Ayrault  congratulated Mikheil Janelidze on the European Parliament’s decision expressing the hope that the process of visa-liberalization for Georgia will be finalized soon, according to MFA of Georgia.

The Georgian Foreign Minister thanked his French colleague for his active support of Georgia. The Ministers noted with satisfaction the successful political relations between the two countries and expressed their readiness to further promote co-operation in the sector of economy. Mikheil Janelidze provided his French colleague with information regarding the Georgian Government’s priorities in tourism, energy, infrastructure and agriculture and outlined prospects for co-operation in these areas.

The importance of the French companies’ investments in Georgia was also highlighted during the meeting where the sides unanimously reaffirmed that Georgia has a great potential for becoming an attractive regional platform for European, including French business.

The French Foreign Minister reaffirmed France’s strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity condemning any attempt of annexation of the territories of sovereign countries. According to Jean-Marc Ayrault, France finds inadmissible so-called agreements signed by Russia with Georgia’s occupied regions.

Talking points also included co-operation in the areas of defence and security. The French Foreign Minister thanked Georgia for making its own contribution towards strengthening international security and reaffirmed the importance of Georgia’s participation in the peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic and Mali.

The Ministers focused on the possibilities of further promoting the trilateral regional co-operation recalling, in this context, the joint German-French Ambassadorial meeting held in Georgia in 2016.

The sides also spoke about Georgia’s participation in the Bordeaux-based wine civilization museum and agreed to work closely to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Mikheil Janelidze invited Jean-Marc Ayrault to take part in the anniversary events.