CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 69

BENIAMIN MAILYAN
Thus, the old idea of the Georgian passageway denoted exclusively
as the transit for energy resources to the West now gains a completely
different essence. The current leadership of Georgia has fully supported the
new Chinese direction in its foreign policy, which inevitably reinforces the
policy of strengthening multilateral ties with China. Georgia's readiness to
participate in the project extended by the leadership of China, was confirmed
by the official visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Giorgi
Kvirikashvili to the PRC in March 2015. Officials of the two countries
signed an agreement to work together for the implementation of project
“Economic Zone – New Silk Road”. The Georgian minister also visited the
“Silk Road Fund”, which was established in 2015. There are 40 billion US
dollars at the immediate disposal of this fund. The Celestial Empire intends
to use this fund on those countries that have already expressed their desire to
become members of the Chinese project. Thus, the delegation that arrived in
Tbilisi became the first in a country in the South Caucasus. They had a
business meeting directly with the head of the fund, Wang Changjiang.
During the long conversation, the two sides discussed the significance of this
project not only for the participating countries, but also its future impact on
international processes on a global scale. G. Kvirikashvili announced the
establishment of an international summit in Georgia, “Forum of the Great
Silk Road”, which is annually held in Tbilisi with the participation of all
countries included in the pool 17 . Moreover, in the framework of this visit, the
two sides signed an agreement that confirms the desire of the parties to begin
negotiations on free trade between Georgia and China as soon as possible.
For Georgia, the SREB project creates an opportunity to transform its
role as an energy resources transportation hub to a regional economic hub. In
this regard, it should be emphasized that with the agreement signed between
the EU and Georgia, products exported from Georgia to the EU must be
produced in Georgia. This, therefore, makes Georgia attractive to all
countries without free trade agreements with the EU to invest in Georgia and
export the products manufactured there to the EU market. 18 This includes
China, which is already investing in Georgia.
Chinese-Georgian business projects in the context of the New Silk
Road
The significance of Georgia in the region is determined primarily by
17
“Ministr ékonomiki i ustojčivogo razvitija Gruzii Georgij Kvirikašvili v ramkakh rabočego
vizita v Kitaj vstretilsja s rukovoditelem Fonda šjelkovogo puti Vangom Janczy”, (in
Russian), [“Mr. Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development,
within the Framework of his working visit to China met with the head of the Silk Road
Foundation, Wang Yangtze”], Sputnik Georgia, March 9, 2015, http://sputnik-
georgia.ru/economy/20150309/217434851.html (accessed April 3, 2019).
18
Vladimir Papava, “One Belt One Road initiative and Georgia“, Expert opinion, Nо. 93,
(Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 2017): 9.
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