Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg today signed two agreements with Georgia during an official visit to Malta by his Georgian counterpart Gregory Vashadze.
The agreements, signed at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, cover a memorandum of understanding on bilateral consultations between the two ministries; and an agreement between the two governments on cooperation in education, science and culture.
This is the fourth agreement signed this week after the signing of another two agreements with Egypt. A total of 85 agreements were signed by the government in the past two years.
Dr Borg told the media the time had come to concretely build upon a positive bilateral scenario, and the visit by the Georgian foreign Minister would serve as an opportunity to further enhance Malta’s and Georgia’s bilateral relations.
He said the memorandum was a first step towards further enhancing relations. Its ultimate aim should be to seek an approximation of positions through regular consultations to discuss bilateral issues as well as regional and international problems.
Dr Borg said that the strengthening of cooperation and understanding between Malta and Georgia would contribute to peace, security and stability in the Mediterranean basin and international peace and security in general.
As regards to trade and investment, Dr Borg said that Malta was willing to strengthen bilateral economic relations with Georgia.
He mentioned the signing of the Double Taxation Agreement in October, and said this should serve a springboard for future agreements facilitating business and creating new employment opportunities.
Speaking on the political relations, Dr Borg said that in various international fora, Malta reiterated its support for the respect of the territorial integrity of Georgia. He said that a peaceful resolution to the frozen conflicts remains the main goal in the EU’s policy.
He said Malta was all in favour of EU enlargement but every applicant would need to satisfy the established EU criteria.
The minister welcomed the strengthening of EU-Georgia relations, which could enhance stability not only in Georgia but also in the neighbouring region.
It was, therefore, essential that these relations continued to be enhanced through additional agreements. Georgia’s path towards European integration could be an added value to the European Union’s vision of strengthening its presence on the international scene.
Georgia has a population over 4.5 million persons, with a negative real GDP growth rate of four per cent during 2009.
In 2009 Malta exported €117,333 mainly consisting of electrical machinery and aircraft parts to George. Currently there are nine Georgian companies registered in Malta.