The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Mariam Kvrivishvili, met with Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu, who was on a working visit to Georgia.
The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Mariam Kvrivishvili, met with Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu, who was on a working visit to Georgia.
During the visit, the Turkish minister will participate in the meeting of the bilateral economic commission, which will be held for the sixth time. Mariam Kvrivishvili and Abdulkadir Uraloghlu are co-chairs of the Commission.
At the meeting, the ministers discussed the priority directions of bilateral trade-economic relations. The conversation touched upon the development of cooperation between countries in sectors such as bilateral trade, transport and logistics, civil aviation, tourism, and others.
It was noted that Turkey is the number one trading partner and a regular developed investor. He emphasized fruitful cooperation in the field of transport. It was noted that the effective use of the role of transit corridor and the formation of a regional logistics hub are the priority of the Government of Georgia, whose further development is closely related to the overall socio-economic development of the country.
The close and fruitful cooperation of the two countries was emphasized on both bilateral and multilateral levels. It was noted that Georgia and Turkey are actively involved in a number of initiatives for the development of transport corridors between Europe and Asia, including the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route – the middle corridor, which is increasingly becoming popular in terms of deepening regional connections, promoting global trade, and economic development.
Mariam Kvrivishvili introduced to her Turkish colleague the vision of the Georgian Government on strengthening the transport and logistics capabilities of the country and provided detailed information on the progress of specific projects that will contribute to the development of the country in this direction.
Among them are the modernization of the railway, the construction of the East-West Highway, the development of the Anaklia Deepwater Port, the new Tbilisi International Airport, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, and others. The meeting emphasized more activism to increase the competitiveness of the mid-corridor and attract additional cargo.
At the meeting, the ministers expressed their readiness for the full operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. Cooperation in the civil aviation sector has been named another priority.
It was noted that in the period of January-June 2025, the number of passengers transferred between two countries as a result of direct regular flights amounted to more than 615 thousand passengers, which is 5.97% more than in the analogous period of 2024.
It was emphasized that currently, 4 Turkish airlines are carrying out more than 100 passengers between countries and are successfully operating freight flights. It was said that work is underway with Turkey’s largest airline, “Turkish Airlines,” to launch a new direction that will further enhance cooperation in both the aviation and tourism sectors.
As noted at the meeting, increased air travel significantly contributes to the development of tourist travel between the two countries – according to the data of 2024, there are more than 1.3 million visitors from Turkey to Georgia, and with this indicator, Turkey is second in terms of international visitors to Georgia. At the meeting, the sides also discussed cooperation between the two countries on investments, land transport, hydrography, marine, railway, and more.
Mariam Kvrivishvili invited the Turkish Minister to the fifth International Silk Road Forum, which will be held in Tbilisi on October 22-23.
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Ministers of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Guram Guramishvili and Genadi Arveladze, as well as the Ambassador of Georgia to Turkey, Archil Kalandia.
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