Switzerland – Within the framework of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the Georgian Foreign Minister, David Zalkaliani held a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Paraguay, Luis Castiglioni.
 
Discussions focused on issues relating to co-operation in bilateral, multilateral and regional formats. The sides highlighted the importance of intensifying the format of political consultations, exchanging high-level official visits and business missions and providing mutual support for each other’s candidates in international organizations.
 

In the morning, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the opening ceremony of polymeric plant in Kyanly settlement, which would be the largest petrochemical facility in the region for polyethylene and polypropylene production.

Vehicle of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov arrives in the facility. The Head of the State is greeted by the Speaker of the Mejlis, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads of military and law enforcement agencies and Hyakim of Balkan Velayat.

The President of Turkmenistan goes to the place of the event. Exhibition demonstrating rich history and culture of Turkmen nation is opened in front of petrochemical complex. Music and dance composition with the participation of art collectives of Balkan Velayat added bright colours to the palette of event.

At the main entrance to the territory of new facility, the Head of the State cut symbolical ribbon under the applauses of the participants opening polymeric plant. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov goes to the building where the event is to take place. The Head of the State is accompanied by foreign businessmen – the managers of Korean LG International Corporation and Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd. And Turkish Çalik Holding, which are old partners of our country in realization of big infrastructural projects as well as Japanese TOYO Engineering Corporation, for which polymeric plant in Kiyanly became the first big project in Turkmenistan.

It was mentioned during the conversation that realization of this large-scale projects would be new important step in expansion of production capacity of national oil and gas industry, which development is treated with great importance. Intensification of gas processing segment is very current due to leading position of Turkmenistan in the world by gas reserves.

Turkmenistan pays great attention to the cooperation with Japan and the Republic of Korea including in the context of development of constructive dialog with the countries of Asian Pacific Region as one of strategic directions of its foreign policy and economic activity. Every year, this partnership, which is built of long-term basis under existing intergovernmental agreements and contract, gains new stimulus and specific content.

The Head of the State came up to the building where participants and guests of current event including the members of the Government, the Mejlis deputies, leaders of ministries and departments, public organizations, heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan, representatives of national and foreign mass media have gathered. All of them greeted National leader with loud applauses.

Addressing the participants, Turkmen leader congratulated all on this remarkable event – opening of new petrochemical complex for production of polyethylene and polypropylene in Kianly Settlement, Balkan Velayat.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that recently, the 27th anniversary of independence of our country was widely celebrated. Before the Independence Day, the first session of the People’s Council has been conducted on high organizational level. During the session, important objectives for provision of further comprehensive and dynamic development of the country have been outlined.

For example, the volume of the main investments to the economy has grown by more than 50 times for the years of Independence. 68 percent of the investments, which make 124 billion UD dollars, were sent to production sphere, which allowed building more than 200 big facilities.

As is known, our state has huge hydrocarbon reserves and takes leading positions in the world by number of deposits, the Head of the State continued. Recently, big work is carried out for production and processing of this valuable material and its stable and reliable supply to consumers. Such large facility as Garabogazkarbamid plant, which was also put into operation recently, can be brought as example.

This year, the construction of Afghan part of Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India gas pipeline has been launched. The opening of new transnational gas line will give the opportunity to supply the above-mentioned countries with 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas per year.

It is very important for provision of prosperous life of Turkmen people, achievement of peace and sustainable development on the region and on the planet, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov highlighted.

At the same time, our country not just export of mineral resources including natural gas to foreign markets but also pays great attention to the processing of raw materials. Efficient work aimed at production of necessary high quality and competitive goods from own resources is carried out.

This is visually indicated by the opening of new petrochemical complex for production of polyethylene and polypropylene in Kiyanly, which construction started on April 22, 2014. This big investment project to the amount of more than 3 billion 400 million US dollars was completed by the State Concern Turkmengaz together with Korean and Japanese companies. Production capacities of new complex were designed for processing of five billion cubic meters of gas per year.

High technology equipment of the facility allows producing 386 thousand tons of polyethylene and 81 thousand tons of polypropylene per year. After extraction of ethane and butane, which are used for production of the polymers, the remaining 4.5 billion cubic meters of pure gas would be delivered to gas pipeline system.

Qualified personnel has been trained for work at this high technology facility. More than 1,000 people had a training in training centres of the country and abroad. The plant has all conditions for productive work and comfort rest. The complex has canteen, hall and sport ground.

In this regard, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed the gratitude to all specialists and construction personnel who participated in creation of this powerful modern facility as well as to the representatives of Japanese and Korean companies.

The facility, which construction was planned under the Programme of development of oil and gas industry of the country until 2030, became visual evidence of turning of independent neutral Turkmenistan into industrially developed state and the country producing ready-made commodities as well as the evidence of great-scale work that is done in the sphere of using natural resources for the interests of the nation, the President highlighted.

The Head of the State noted that strict attention is paid to the requirements of ecological safety during construction of various facilities in Turkmenistan. Great attention is also paid to the introduction of innovations and modern technologies. All these aspects were considered during construction of new facility.

Opening of new powerful complex would support the improvement of positions of our country not only at the world market of oil and gas resources but polymeric products as well, the President of Turkmenistan said, having expressed the confidence that this facility would make significant input to the current achievements of the country and would serve for many years to future generations.

Having congratulated the participants again on the opening of new big petrochemical complex for production of polyethylene and polypropylene, the Head of the State wished strong health, happy and prosperous life to all and great success in work to the personnel of the plant. The speech of the Head of Turkmenistan was welcomed by load applauses.

The ceremony was continued by foreign guests. First, the floor was given to representative of Julius Kun Institute (Germany), Doctor of Agronomy and Gardening Margit Olle. Having noted that petrochemical complex in Kiyanly has been recognized as high technology innovative facility by Julius Kun Institute, Mrs Olle presented the relative Certificate and badge to the director of the plant.

Senior Advisor of the Environmental Health Trust (USA) Robert Dubua Morris noted that activity of his organization is aimed at the environmental protection and protection of public from potential ecological threats. It can be achieved by wise planning of economic activity, wide implementation of clean, environmentally friendly innovative technologies during realization of big industrial projects.

Construction of petrochemical complex in Kiyanly, which can be easily called as an exemplary from protection of Caspian Sea environment and provision of favourable ecological situation for the residents of the region point of view, is exactly this project, the guest noted and awarded the Certificate and relevant sign to the director of the plant.

After, the floor was given to Energy Department Head of Paul Sherrer Scientific and Research Institute (Switzerland), Professor, Doctor Urs Veidmann. Having warmly congratulated the Head of Turkmenistan on successful completion of construction of innovative energy complex, the representative of the largest scientific centre of Switzerland awarded the Certificate of Stability and Efficiency and relative sign to the director of polymeric plant.

Having thanked the guests for awards and certificates, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that he accepts it as the sign of high international rating of Turkmenistan, recognition of its success in use of innovative technologies during the construction of various facilities.

The President highlighted that large-scale industrial programme in the country is closely connected with environmental protection issues. Supporting the efforts of the world community for reduction of green gases emission, Turkmenistan pays great attention to wide implementation of modern environmentally safe and resource saving technologies in industry including in oil and gas, power energy and chemical spheres.

Having said that innovations and the best world practice would be introduced to all these spheres of the economy, the Head of the State expressed the gratitude for the recognition and support of the work carried out by Turkmenistan in this direction.

After, short video presentation about huge potential, success and achievements of national oil and gas complex was demonstrated to the participants on panoramic display in 360 degrees format with use of special effects and laser technology.

The culmination comes and under the applauses of the participants President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov starts the operation of polymeric plant pushing the button.

The monitors demonstrate the video, which was also made by special video equipment, about new facility and process of production of polyethylene and polypropylene. 
The State Concern Turkmengaz completed 3 billion 400 million US dollars project together with foreign partners – LG International and Hyundai Engineering (the Republic of Korea) as well as TOYO Engineering Corporation (Japan). Three side contract was signed during official visit of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Japan in 2013.

The facility has modern equipment from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and other European countries. It has four main technological installations – gas separation, ethane processing, polypropylene and polyethylene production units. All processes are automated and control form the central post.

Advanced engineering solutions were implemented during installation of auxiliary systems of sea water intake and desalination, utilization, treatment and recycled use of process water, steam, air and nitrogen production, fire system, etc. The complex is with power from gas turbine generator. It has warehouses for chemical agents and ready-made polymeric products.

Production of polymers at Liyanly petrochemical complex is based on modern technologies, which distinguishing feature is a deep extraction of all additional components from raw material by unique schemes. In particular, COREFLUX™ technology is used at gas separation unit, which provides efficient extraction of methane and ethane from natural gas as well as widely used technology for extraction of so called ‘sour gases’ and mercury mixtures.

The ethane unit is designed for processing of 685,000 tons of hydrocarbon materials per year.

It is worth mentioning that the facility has developed the production of high-density polyethylene from the polymerization reaction of ethylene under law pressure. Innovene™S technology, which is among the three of the most utilized technologies in the world petrochemical industry, is used in this case. The licence was issued by INEOS Technologies (UK), which is one of the biggest international corporations that has chemical facilities bought from such giant of the industry as BP, ICI and BASF. By the way, this is the first licence of Innovene™S from INEOS Technologies in Central Asia.

Open door and beneficial interstate cooperation policy of the President of Turkmenistan, high growth rates of national economy, large-scale programmes of development of industrial sector, favourable investment climate make good prepositions for activation of the partnership with foreign business circles and wide implementation of the world practice in many spheres, first in scientifically based and high technology branches.

This is visually indicated by the fact that project of construction of Kiyanly petrochemical complex received special award of TFX (UK) as one of the ten best projects of Europe and Asia, which is financed by export credit agencies.

Total amount of credit agreements signed by the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan with Japanese International Cooperation Bank, Export and Import Bank of Korea and the Syndicate of financial institutions of Japan, Germany, France, Korea, China, Italy, Austria and Switzerland participating in the project us more than 2.5 billion US dollars.

All of these visually illustrate the interest and willingness to investment and technological cooperation with Turkmenistan from big world business, which indicate the trust to our country as to reliable, stable and responsible partners with good reputation, high international authority and big perspectives of growth.

After, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited the section of ready-made production, which includes seven types of polyethylene and five types of polypropylene received in the process of adding of various components to polymeric material. This process, which is called compounding, gives the opportunity to modify the spectrum of the main features of polymeric item. Special equipment including the extruder is used for this important operation.

The granules of ready-made product go the warehouse where it is packed in bags of various weight.

Being very solid, durable and resistant to acids, bases, greases and oils as well as having excellent di electrical features, the polyethylene is used as a material for production of industrial and household products like films, plastic bags, pipes, cable insulation. Chemical containers, barrels, toys, dishware, kitchen and bathroom ware, sewing and furniture accessories, spares for vehicles and household equipment as well as big construction as playgrounds, wells, flyovers, etc. are made of the polyethylene.

Granulated polypropylene is highly requested at the world markets. The demand for this product is constantly growing in the last decade, which is related to several factors. This polymer is easy to process and has unique features like light weight, durability, resistance to high temperatures. Due to innovative technologies, there are more and more fields for its application. Wide variety of goods starting from packing film and plastic dishware to high technology details for cars and household electronics is made of polypropylene these days.

It is worth to mention that this summer, biaxial oriented polypropylene film facility with annual output of 21,000 tons has been put into operation at Turkmenbashy Refinery Complex.

As is known, the Garabogazkarbamid plant was opened one month ago in Caspian region with the participation of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and today, the monitors installed at Kiyanly petrochemical complex demonstrated the footages of the shipment of the first batch of production exported from the Garabogazkarbamid plant.

After familiarization with this production section, the President of Turkmenistan left the entry in the Book of Honoured Guests.

Specialists of the complex expressed the gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for construction of modern production facility of petrochemical industry with comfort conditions for work of personnel and assured that they would work hard.

On behalf of the personnel of oil and gas industry, the Head of the State receive commemorative gift.

Having wished success in work to the personnel of the plant, the Head of the State presented them with the keys for new vehicles.

After, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov went to the place of tree planting event, having looked around the production facilities of new industrial giant on his way.

As per tradition, the Head of the state opened autumn green campaign, having planted the first tree. The participants of the event have joined the initiative of the President. Representative of all branches of national economy as well as diplomatic corps accredited in Turkmenistan and foreign guest took part in the event.

Mass tree planting event was carried out this day all around the country.

After all events, the President of Turkmenistan went to Turkmenbashy International Airport and flew to the capital.

The state news agency of Turkmenistan 

In conjunction with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) nationalization process in Turkmenistan, the United Nations Development Programme and the State Bank for Economic Affairs (TFEB) are working to improve the access of Turkmenistan to international financing and to improve its capacity to deliver and manage such financing streams effectively.

As part of the joint initiative, on June 20, 2018, UNDP and TFEB held International Financing for Development Conference “Partnership for Development Financing at the Heart of the Great Silk Road”that brought together over 150 partners from ministries and state agencies, international financial institutions that have an interest in the country, private entities and commercial banks who are potential investors in the country, as well as development experts from UNDP and other international organizations.

One of the purposes of the event is to create a joint understanding of the country’s sustainable development priorities, the related financing needs and the various options that exist for mobilizing such resources, especially from international financial institutions and private capital.

As part of the Financing for Development Conference, participants considered some specific ongoing development and infrastructure projects in Turkmenistan, such as construction of the TAPI gas pipeline, which contribute to the sustainable development of the region of Central Asia and South Asia.

The participants of the conference noted with satisfaction the successes of Turkmenistan in nationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the establishment of a national coordination mechanism for the implementation, monitoring and reporting of the SDGs, including the decision to submit the first voluntary national review on the SDG implementation at the High-level Political Forum in 2019.

“Getting financing right will be critical to meet the SDGs by 2030. While there is no shortage of resources in the global economy, we need partnerships, sound planning, leadership and some creative ideas of looking at financing streams for development,” stated RastislavVrbensky, UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Europe and the CIS at the conference.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan S. Berdimuhamedov noted in his speech that "the achievement of the goals of sustainable development is an ambitious task and requires cohesion and concrete joint actions. Partnership in this direction is very important. "

"Following strict adherence to the international obligations assumed, we declare with full responsibility our continued commitment to the widest and most active cooperation with Member States and international organizations, financial institutions, specialized agencies and United Nations structures," the Deputy Minister stressed.

The conference participants welcomed Turkmenistan's efforts to improve the public finance system and stressed the importance of fiscal regulation to improve the mobilization of domestic financial resources.

The sessions aimed to shed the light on government’s views on the issue of private sector development and diversification, and its priorities and measures for encouraging bilateral state and private investments for achieving Sustainable development agenda 2030.

As a result of the conference, the Final Document was adopted and a package of bilateral documents was signed.

On 27 March, over 200 participants from government, civil society, the private sector and international bodies gathered in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to participate in a four-day conference on ‘Women’s Role in Economic Growth and Policy Development’.

The event is part of Women Empowerment Week in Georgia, and is supported by the EU4Business initiative and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as other international donors and local partners.

The conference serves as a unique opportunity for participants to learn and be inspired by successful female leaders, with a wide range of panels, presentations, side events and networking opportunities.

The event focuses on the topic of women in government, civil society and business. It will also host a training session on social media marketing, an exhibition of female entrepreneurs and an award ceremony for women in leadership. Other topics during the event will cover women and innovation, access to finance and the role of women in energy, transport and logistics.

The EU supports female entrepreneurs in Georgia through the EBRD’s Women in Business programme, funded by the EU as part of its EU4Business initiative. Under the programme, the EBRD provides access to finance through credit lines to local banks dedicated to women-led SMEs, alongside business advice to help businesses become more competitive. The programme also offers training, mentoring and other support to enable female entrepreneurs to share experiences and learn from each other as peers.

The Constitution of Georgia stipulates that the state language of Georgia is Georgian. The status of the official language creates grounds for, on the one hand, the social isolation and exclusion from economic and political spheres of people who do not speak Georgian and, on the other hand, the banning on the use of a minority language in administrative domains.

79 year old Nargila Hamidova, a resident of Sadakhlo village of Marneuli district says that the linguistic barrier has made them feel isolated from Tbilisi and they have little interaction with the majority Georgian populations: “Our social and economic links are overwhelmingly to Azerbaijan. Trade is done in Azeri or Russian, rarely in Georgian. We feel alienated and isolated from the rest of the country that we reside in. Although we are the citizens of Georgia and said to have equal rights as citizens, the lack of the knowledge of the state language has formed us into secondary citizens, in fact”.

In Kvemo Kartli, Azeri is predominantly spoken. Even though the region is close to Tbilisi, ethnic Azeris maintain less economic and social ties with Georgia than they do with their kin state. Linguistic isolation makes these ties ever closer.

According to head of Borchali Public Union Zalimkhan Mammadli, if this situation continues, minorities risk soon being unable to communicate with the rest of the population and suffering harder economic and social marginalization. “The state should implement programs to maintain dialogue between ethnic Azeris and majority Georgians and further promote flexible Georgian language trainings in the regions densely populated by minorities to encourage their social and economic mobility, which will subsequently contribute to balanced socio-economic development throughout the country.” 

The language of administrative proceedings shall be Georgian, in accordance with the applicable Law of General Administrative Code of Georgia. As all communication and correspondence are conducted in Georgian, ethnic Azeris who do not speak Georgian struggle to access public services. 24 year old Tajir Jalilov, a native of Iormughanlo village of Sagarejo district says: “Azeri language may be spoken when accessing public services in our village. However, no multilingual public services are officially provided. Because all official documentation and correspondence have to be submitted in Georgian, there is no guarantee that we can access those services in or mother tongue”.

As reported by the Community Center of Iormughanlo village, Azeri minorities need to acquire official documents, submit official complaints only in Georgian. Applications submitted in languages other than Georgian are not reviewed. An official of the community center said that if non-Georgian speaking citizens want their concerns represented at the community or higher level, they have to use translation services at their own expense. Legislation is only published in Georgian and not available in minority languages, added the official of the community center.

Ethnic Azeris of Georgia also face difficulties accessing information in the Georgian media because of the language barrier, the phenomenon which can only accentuate the isolation and alienation felt by these communities in the Georgian society. According to Musa Musayev, a 62 year old native of Sadakhlo village of Marneuli district, on account of the information vacuum, even sometimes they are becoming vulnerable group for hostile propaganda: “As little information from the Georgian media is available in languages understood by us, we often rely on foreign news sources for information, such as Azerbaijani or Turkish media. As a result of the information vacuum, the information is late to reach, sometimes even in a marred form. Some foreign, including Russian channels also accessible through satellite, but the programmes they broadcast are highly politicized and biased against Georgia.

The media is referred as the forth branch of a government and people may very well be affected by hostile media. Therefore, according to head of Borchali Public Union Zalimkhan Mammadli, the people need to be better and duly informed about the life of the state if they are to be expected to integrate into mainstream Georgian culture. Zalimkhan Mammadli says that considering the low level of knowledge of the state language and significant number of ethnic Azeri population living in Georgia, at least it is advisable to broadcast special media coverage with simple texts in easy Georgian read at a slower speed, along with ensuring media pluralism: “This would not only ensure to keep abreast of the ongoing developments, but also benefit the learning of the state language and encourage the non-Georgian population to practice understanding and speaking basic Georgian”

Regarding this issue, Alibala Asgarov, who heads the NGO Geyrat, mentions that it is important to encourage the production of programs with translated subtitles and dubbing in the minority languages.

Ethnic Azeris political participation and representation – a key to more effective integration – is disturbingly low. In the 150-member Georgian Parliament there are only 4 Azeri representatives. Very few government officials at higher levels are of Azeri origin. This reflects the general situation in Georgia, where all decision-making positions are held by ethnic Georgians. The predominantly Azeri populated Kvemo-Kartli region has never had an ethnic Azeri governor. Only the deputy governor is ethnic Azeri. Azeris are also significantly underrepresented in local government. In Marneuli the mayor, in Gardabanai, Dmanisi, Bolnisi the deputy mayor are Azeris. This is mainly due to the fact that the government relies on only ethnic Georgians run local affairs and partly because of the insufficient knowledge of Georgian by ethnic Azeris. According to the Report on the Situation of the Protection of the Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2017 released by the Public Defender of Georgia, ethnic Azeris tend to be better represented only in local councils at town and village level in the regions they densely populate. 

Member of the Georgian parliament Azer Suleimanovi stresses that active involvement of ethnic Azeris in the political life of the country largely depends on the government’s efforts to encourage them to start working in the public service. According to Azer Suleimanovi inability to speak the state language was ethnic Azeris’ biggest problem in the 1990s and there are currently significant number of highly-educated ethnic Azerbaijanis with fluent Georgian, who are even well-suited to hold senior posts at the government and politics. “Lack of Georgian among the newer generation of ethnic Azeris is no more than an illusion intentionally contrived to put artificial barriers to ethnic Azeris. It is because of the current state program and the government policy that the ethnic Azeris are subjected to failure to hold civil service posts and excluded from political participation. We have always raised this issue before all levels of government, but not any action is taken.”

As reported by the Public Relations and Communications Department of the Administration of the President of Georgia, the government of Georgia has always emphasized high importance of ethnic minorities to Georgia’s political and social development: “Various projects, “Learn Georgian” that has been held for almost three years being one of them, are being implemented within the framework of Presidential Reserve Fund to support the integration of ethnic minorities, including ethnic Azerbaijanis, and encourage their participation in political and social life of Georgia.”

The opinion of interviewees and experts make it clear that ethnic Azerbaijanis of Georgia should have the right to an identity, and the right to participate in the social, economic and political life of Georgia. This implies, first of all, the need to promote the official language of Georgia. At the same time, the right of ethnic Azeris to use and develop their native language should not be undermined as it should be recognized as part of the linguistic and cultural heritage of Georgia. It is also undeniable proof that strong integration of ethnic minorities into the whole society of a country would prevent a possible outbreak of any interethnic tension and conflict.

This article was prepared within the framework of the project implemented by the Human Rights House Tbilisi and cofunded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and National Endowment for Democracy. The article does not express opinions of Human Rights House Tbilisi or the donors. The views expressed herein are those of the author only.

Source link of the article http://dfwatch.net/integration-ethnic-azeris-starts-language-challenges-economic-integration-access-public-services-media-political-participation-50142

By Ramil Huseynov

 

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili will participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Head of Government will visit the Swiss Confederation on January 22-24.

During the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister of Georgia will deliver a speech at the Strategic Outlook—Eurasia discussion. Giorgi Kvirikashvili is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with political leaders from different countries, European Commission leadership, and founders of large international companies.

According to the forecasts, economic growth from October 2017 was 5.7%; throughout the first 10 months, the growth was equal to 10% - this positive news was published this morning, - Georgia's governmental administration reports. 

‘This is the best result throughout the whole region and we have to create as much dynamics in economy as possible. I am convinced that signed and planned projects within the frames of Tbilisi Silk Road Forum that was held recently will create even higher dynamics. Pursuant to prognoses provided by all international institutions, next year we will have even higher economic growth, since we have significantly exceeded their expectations this year. Next year we have to take all efforts to exceed their prognoses in a positive light,' Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has declared.

The Committee considered with the II reading the drafts on Entrepreneurs; and Securities Market, introduced by the Deputy-Economic Minister, Irma Kavtaradze. The draft aims at re-regulation of the norms of the preferred purchase right of the shareholders in the law on Entrepreneurs and conferring the preferred purchase right to the rest of the partners upon sale of the share by the partner in limited companies.
The draft also envisages compliance of the rule of composition of the Audit Committee with international standards and improvement/specification of certain issues in the law. The remarks and comments expressed at the I reading are shared. The draft defines the Audit Committee as the sub-committee of the Board of Trustees of the Public Interest Person to be composed with the members of Board of Trustees solely. At that, at least one member shall be an independent person to be elected as the Chair of the Committee. The draft regulates the preferred purchase right of the share by the partner. The transitional provisions provide that the hereof regulation shall apply to the limited companies registered after enactment of the change.
The Audit Committee shall be chaired by the independent person as stipulated under the law on Entrepreneurs. The changes envisage the right on information about salaries and other incomes of the accountable Directors or members of Board of Directors and members of Board of Trustees conferred to any shareholder of the enterprise admitted to the stock exchange for trade.
The draft envisages obligation of inspection of such deals by the external auditor or certified accountant with participation of the persons concerned and the value of which constitutes 10% or over of the assets of the accountable enterprise or a smaller amount under the Articles thereof. I. Kavtaradze made elucidations and answered the questions. The Committee supported the drafts.

After the meeting held with the diplomatic corps and international organizations, the Chairman of Parliament, Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze spoke about sundry relevant issues and estimated the meeting with business associations. 
“We had a very important meeting with business associations. We considered the issues related to economic and social policy, we heard the arguments regarding particular regulations. We discussed the tax issues, land related regulations etc. The arguments were interesting. We will also hold the discussion within the State Constitutional Commission and I believe that we will achieve the decision ensuring formation of proper legal system in Georgia and protection of business and economic interest. I am sure of formation of such system”.
He abstained from estimating the opinion poll results held by IRI and noted that likely Georgian Dream soon will hold the survey to define the prognosis. “You know our attitude to these polls in general, held by other subjects. We have mentioned them prior to the elections, stating that these polls fail to allow forecast election outcomes unlike the surveys held by us. We trust our surveys and soon we will hold the poll to allow us forecasting Municipal election outcomes. I am sure of high support to Georgian Dream and outcome of the upcoming Municipal elections will be high”.
He spoke about the statement by the non-Parliamentary opposition. The parties ask promulgation of the working draft of the final changes till April 15. “In a couple of days every SCC member will be provided with the document developed on the basis of the I and II rounds of discussions in SCC. Hence, this document will be available and moreover, in the end of the month we will endorse this document and submit it to the Parliament. Deriving, the process is at maximal extent transparent and in the nearest days we all will know the context of the preliminary document and in the end of April we will know the context of the document to be submitted to the Parliament”.
The Chairman stated that there is a clear tendency regarding the electoral system. “We speak about the proportional system with three main aspects: 5% threshold; annulment of bloc system; and the smallest bonus which if we consider the outcomes of the last four elections, implies 3.1%. Again, this system essentially is proportional and ensures fair and proper distribution of mandates on the basis of the Constitution”.
As to separation of self-governing cities, he elucidated that he was initially against this reform. “I am well aware of this issue, I participated in the discussions related to division of seven units and was against the reform with substantiated economic, financial and social calculations. It was wrong, what was done a couple of years ago. It had its context and I will abstain from details, though as to unification, it is also related with difficulties. We shall thoroughly think of it and make the respective decision”.
He confirmed that the Parliament will not endorse any of the norms disapproved by Venice Commission. He stated that the document developed complies with the fundamental principles of the Constitutional Law and it will be submitted to Venice Commission in the end of April.
“If any of the gaps are detected by Venice Commission, we will eliminate them. Though, I am sure that the document already complies with the fundamental principles of the Constitutional law. We engaged the Venice Commission experts to let them ask about every Article. We had a very interesting discussion on each Article and each Chapter and we expect the final recommendations from them. We will submit the document in the end of April to within one month receive their recommendations to be fully shared by the Parliament”.
As to the Presidential annual report format, the Chairman stated that the decision will be made after the discussions. “There are two alternative formats envisaged for the Presidential reporting under the Rules of Procedure – speeches of the Chairs of the Faction and the debates. We shall discuss it and I cannot comment to this issue yet. We need to discuss it to decide of the format”.
He estimated the drafts on surveillance and noted that the drafts serve for provision of balance between to legitimate interests. “We adopted the drafts on surveillance as we believed in correctness of the drafts. As to the decision of the Constitutional Court, we are sure that the drafts fully meet the context of this decision and besides, proper provision of balance between two legitimate interests – state security and human rights, - is very important. Balance was necessary and the draft serves for this purpose”.

BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday pledged to continue reforms to attain the economic growth target of about 6.5 percent this year despite challenges ahead. The annual government work report, delivered by Li at the opening meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, set the GDP growth target at around 6.5 percent, or higher if possible in practice. The target, which Li said is "realistic and in keeping with economic principles," is the lowest for more than 20 years for China. Nonetheless, China remains one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The target will help steer and steady expectations and make structural adjustments as well as help achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, Li said while delivering the report at the session, the first since Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee last October. Li called for uniting more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core and working hard to fulfill development targets. 2017 is of crucial importance for the country as the CPC will convene its 19th National Congress in the second half of the year to elect a new leadership for the next five years during which Xi's vision of a well-off society will be achieved. Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies listened to Li's report at the meeting chaired by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, along with Xi and other leaders. GROWTH TARGET ACHIEVABLE Li also announced that in 2017, China will keep its CPI increase at around 3 percent, and create more than 11 million urban jobs with a registered urban unemployment rate within 4.5 percent. The country will also reduce its energy consumption per unit of GDP by at least 3.4 percent. "An important reason for stressing the need to maintain stable growth is to ensure employment and improve people's lives," Li said. Last year, China's GDP reached 74.4 trillion yuan (10.8 trillion U.S. dollars), a 6.7-percent growth, outpacing most other economies and contributing more than 30 percent of global growth. Despite challenges, China created 13.14 million urban jobs and increased per capita disposable income by 6.3 percent. About 12.4 million people shook off poverty. Noting that China must be ready to face more complicated and graver situations including sluggish world economic growth and growing trend of protectionism, Li expressed his confidence that difficulties will be overcome as the country has a solid material foundation, abundant human resources, a huge market, and a complete system of industries. National lawmaker Zhang Zhao'an called the target "reasonable, pragmatic and reachable." "You have to take into account the large base figure of China's economic aggregates. The moderate adjustment of the target signals a greater focus on the quality and returns of economic growth," said Zhang, vice president of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. SUPPLY-SIDE STRUCTURAL REFORM Supply-side structural reform will be given priority in China's development, Li said. According to the report, efforts will center on a variety of areas,including streamlining administration, reducing taxes, further expanding market access, and reducing ineffective supply while expanding effective supply. Comparing the reform as "the struggle from chrysalis to butterfly," Li said China must press forward with courage and get the job done. "China's endeavors to deepen reforms, improve government efficiency and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship have had positive impacts on the economic sector," Zhang Zhao'an said. To be specific, China will further reduce steel production capacity by around 50 million metric tons and coal capacity by at least 150 million metric tons this year, the report said. It also highlighted cutting excess urban real estate inventory, bringing down the leverage of enterprises, reducing costs for enterprises and strengthen areas of weakness including poverty eradication. China will pursue a more proactive and effective fiscal policy.It has set its government fiscal deficit this year at 2.38 trillion yuan, or 3 percent of its GDP, an increase of 200 billion yuan over last year. It plans to invest 800 billion yuan in railway construction and 1.8 trillion yuan in highway and waterway projects, and begin construction on another 15 major water conservation projects. This year, the government aims to reduce the number of rural residents living in poverty by over 10 million, including 3.4 million to be relocated from inhospitable areas. Central government funding for poverty alleviation will be increased by over 30 percent. Meanwhile, the report said, transforming and upgrading the real economy through innovation will be another focus of work. "China's population dividends are declining, but its institutional dividends are increasing," Zhang said. GLOBALIZATION Despite an increase in anti-globalization sentiment and attempts to reverse the trend, Li Keqiang reassured that China opposes protectionism in its different forms, and will work toward a deeper and higher level of opening up. Li's remarks echoed President Xi Jinping's January speech during the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in which Xi said pursuing protectionism is like "locking oneself in a dark room." In this spirit, Li said, China will push ahead with the Belt and Road Initiative, for example, by accelerating the building of overland economic corridors and maritime cooperation hubs, and deepening international industrial-capacity cooperation. The initiative, proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, has yielded infrastructure projects of all sorts, economic and trade cooperation zones, and jobs. China will also make big moves to improve the environment for foreign investors, including making service industries, manufacturing, and mining more open to foreign investment, encouraging foreign-invested firms to be listed and issue bonds in China, and allowing them to take part in national science and technology projects, according to the report. SOVEREIGNTY AND SECURITY This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and 18th anniversary of Macao's return. "We will continue to implement, both to the letter and in spirit, the principle of 'one country, two systems,'" Li said, stressing the principle will be steadfastly applied in Hong Kong and Macao without being bent or distorted. The notion of "Hong Kong independence" will lead nowhere, he warned. He also voiced opposition against and resolution to contain separatist activities for "Taiwan independence." "We will never tolerate any activity, in any form or name, which attempts to separate Taiwan from the motherland," Li said. In addition, China will continue to deepen reforms in national defense and the armed forces. It will strengthen its maritime and air defense as well as border control amid efforts to safeguard its sovereignty and security, according to the report. "We will boost military training and preparedness, so as to ensure that the sovereignty, security, and development interests of China are resolutely and effectively safeguarded," Li said.