Prime Minister, Secretary General, Generals, Officers, dear guests, ladies and gentlemen welcome! We would like to thank you for your attendance. Main purpose of our meeting is the inauguration of the NATO Georgia joint training and evaluation centre. It is a great honor for me to host such a significant event. At the same time I would like to thank everyone who has put huge efforts and continues to contribute to timely establishment and effective functioning of the centre.

I would like to extend special thanks to the NATO core team members and experts from Allied Nations, in the frames of the NATO Georgia substantial package, who continue to spare no effort with their Georgian counterparts with the aim of accomplishing success. Their active involvement vis a vis Georgia’s Euroatlantic integration process is a clear example of the firm support from the Alliance.

I am confident that with our joint effort and by way of mobilization of all existing resources as well as active support from our partner nations, we will carry on successful implementation of NATO Georgia joint projects which, we hope, will be appropriately reflected in the decisions reached at the Warsaw Summit.

Today is an important message of Georgia’s irreversible Euroatlantic course and it is a symbol of our determination and partner support.
Georgia’s choice is very clear – we are determined to become a fully-fledged member of the democratic, progressive, stable and peaceful family of states.
NATO – is the most effective mechanism for guarantying security architecture in contemporary world.

By way of NATO enlargement, borders of freedom are being extended, security circle is broadened and peace is set on a larger Euroatlantic segment.
NATO delivers peace.

Membership of family of democratic nations has been a dream passed on from one generation to another over years. Modern generation of democratic Georgia, young and old, men and women, our youth in military uniforms who, in Afghanistan, under the NATO auspices, proudly carry Georgian flag, have the ambition to realize that dream.

Timely and effective implementation of the NATO Georgia substantial package, is the top priority of our political group, prime minister, government, parliament and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. This is due to the fact that the objective of the substantial package as well any joint initiative on part of NATO and Georgia serves the purpose of preparing Georgia for membership.

We view our future with great optimism. We are working and fighting for Europe’s Georgia. Georgia that will be free from aggression and occupation and Georgia that will find its place within the family of democratic states.

We are standing on firm grounds that have been created by our ancestors; we are the brave generation guarantying successful present day that must pass on a more developed, stable, peaceful and more secured state to our children.

On this path, knowledge, professionalism, unexhausted efforts, adherence to our commitments, bravery and determination, is our main companion and instrument that will eventually lead us to the accomplishment of our final goal.

Serve Georgia in a loyal way and unconditionally!
Once again, many thanks for your attendance and congratulations on today.

On 26 and 27 August 2015, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will pay an official visit to Georgia. It will be Jens Stoltenberg’s first visit to Georgia in his capacity as NATO Secretary General.   
 
Within the framework of the visit, the NATO Secretary General will hold meetings with the President of Georgia, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs and other representatives of the executive branch of the Government. The Secretary General will pay tribute to the memory of those who died for the unity of Georgia and will lay a wreath at the Fallen Heroes Memorial.
 
On 27 August an inaugural ceremony of the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre will be held at the site of the Krtsanisi Training Centre. The Secretary General will meet representatives of the Georgian military unit who have been trained for the NATO’s Rapid Response Force.
 
Discussions within the framework of the official meetings will focus on a broad spectrum of issues relating to Georgia’s integration with the NATO, steps that have been taken in this direction, progress achieved in the implementation of the Substantial Package and preparations for the NATO Summit in Warsaw scheduled for 2016.

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili has presented Giorgi Mghebrishvili as the new Interior Minister at a short Press-briefing today.   

The Interior Minister’s post became vacant once the Security Service was separated from the ministry and Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri was appointed head of this newly-established agency. It started functioning on August 1, 2015.

Today, the Prime Minister also introduced the post of minister for probation and penitentiary First Deputy Minister Kakha Kakhishvili.

Giorgi Mghebrishvili was born in Tbilisi on May 9, 1970. He graduated from Tbilisi State University and is a lawyer by profession. He completed an internship at the Interior Ministry’s investigative department in 1997. He also worked at the MIA, Finance Ministry, Revenue Service, etc. He was appointed Minister of Corrections in 2014.

Giorgi Mghebrishvili speaks Russian and English languages in addition to his native Georgian. He has a wife and two children.

Targeted, poverty reducing benefits for people living in the highlands of Georgia, as well as incentives for businesses and budget support to economic and social development are envisioned in a newly adopted Law on the Development of Mountainous Regions, which comes into force today, 31 July 2015.

The draft law adopted by the Parliament of Georgia last week was prepared by the Government of Georgia with the leadership of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, and support from the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus, Austrian Development Cooperation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  

“The new Law establishes objective criteria for classifying mountainous areas and settlements. It provides important and substantial social, economic and business benefits, together with a guarantee of annual funds from the national budget reserved for mountain development,” said Tengiz Shergelashvili, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.

The benefits described in the new Law include: tax exemptions for selected companies operating in the mountainous areas; improved social benefits for local residents; higher salaries for teachers and medical staff; and increased social assistance for pensioners. In addition, more opportunities and support will be available for infrastructure and business development in the highlands.

The funds will be provided from the national budget through the specially designed Mountainous Areas Development Fund. The selection of mountainous settlements that qualify for privileges and support will be undertaken by a National Council on Mountainous Regions to be formed under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Georgia. Based on criteria specified in the Law, the Council will propose a list of mountainous settlements and present it to the Government for approval.  

‘Drawing on international experience, the new Law presents an important opportunity to help reduce poverty and improve the quality of life in the mountainous areas through enhanced human and economic development,” said Shombi Sharp, Deputy Head of UNDP in Georgia.

With funds from the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus and Austrian Development Cooperation, UNDP has provided expert support to preparing a draft Law on Development of Mountainous Regions of Georgia and facilitated cooperation of the Government and Parliament of Georgia with the two highland countries – Austria and Switzerland, whose governments are actively supporting regional development in Georgia.  

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today welcomed the choice of Tbilisi to host the first round of negotiations of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as clear recognition that his country is an interface between Europe and Asia.

Commenting on the announcement that top officials from 57 countries will travel to the Georgian capital for AIIB ministerial talks on 24-25 August, the Prime Minister said: "This is further evidence that Georgia is not just looking West. My country has always been a regional hub and a gateway between Europe and Asia, which is why I am so strongly in favour of a Tbilisi Silk Road Forum."

Prime Minister Garibashvili advocates the establishment of the Forum to explore the benefits and practicalities of revitalising the historic Silk Road and enhancing cooperation in transport, energy, trade and people-to-people contacts.

Georgia last month became the 45th country to join the AIIB, which is expected to be established by the end of the year to provide loans for infrastructure projects in developing countries in Asia.
As a member, Georgia will be able to attract preferential loans for implementing infrastructural projects such as the Silk Road project. The bank will have capital of $500 billion USD.

The one year results of the State Program - Produce in Georgia were summarized at the Exhibition Center ExpoGeorgia that was attended by Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili. Prime Minister delivered a speech concerning the importance of the program in the direction of enterprise promotion in Georgia. He discussed the priorities of the state and thanked those who participating in enterprise development.

The summarizing event was also attended by Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Energy of Georgia Kakhi Kaladze, Minister of Finance Nodar Khaduri, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Georgia Levan Davitashvili, as well as representatives of the Parliament of Georgia, various governmental offices, international organizations and companies. The presentation of the result of the undertaken works within the framework of the program was delivered by Giorgi Tsikolia, Director at Entrepreneurship Development Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.

“We summarized the one year results of the program. More than 80 companies have already involved in the program. This means that about 5,000 new jobs will be created only within the framework of this program during the next year. I would like to mention that State Program - Produce in Georgia is expanded and to which the development of hotel network in the region, as well as film industry promotion program in Georgia has been added” - Giorgi Kvirikashvili said. 

During the first year of the program functioning, numerous large-scale events were implemented on the national, as well as international level. Within the framework of the program, important steps have been taken in the direction of the popularization of national products at leading international exhibitions and increasing export potential.  

The state has supported 90 new projects with an approximate investment of more than 250 million GEL. Commercial banks in Georgia had issued loans to private sector entrepreneurs worth 122 million GEL. The implemented projects would provide jobs for approximately 5,000 people. 

The State Program - Produce in Georgia has been implementing in Georgia through the initiative of Prime Minister of Georgia, with coordination of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia since June, 2014. It is the first state program oriented towards enterprise promotion in Georgia, supporting entrepreneurs, creating new enterprises and expanding the existing ones.