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VIEWS FROM TBILISI: THE ARMENIA-GEORGIA GOOD-NEIGHBORED RELATIONS MAY WELL BECOME A LINK BETWEEN EU AND EEU
by David Stepanyan
Monday, February 23, 14:06
The Armenia-Georgia good-neighbored relations may well become a link
between the EU and EEU, Beka Natsvilishvili, one of Georgia's Social-
Democratic Party leaders, said in an online interview with ArmInfo.
"We should not discard Russia's factor. The pressure Moscow exerted on
Armenia to make it align with the EEU was not a result of its fears
to lose Armenia as an economic partner. There were other fears - the
fear to lose the South Caucasus as a whole region, amid attractive
offers of the European Union, and the fear to lose the military base
in Armenia," he said.
According to Natsvilishvili, the governments of both Georgia and
Armenia need to display a more creative approach to the new investment
opportunities, production in Georgia, free access to the European
market that will Armenian companies receive in case of signing a DCFTA
with Georgia. The political expert is sure that the positive sides of
Georgia's joining the Association Agreement with the EU overshadow
the negative ones. He outlined such factors as cooperation in the
field of political reform, culture and education, visa regulations,
free movement for citizens and companies. He believes that the economic
reform will be the most complicated undertaking, considering that under
Saakashvili, economic reforms were oriented at total de-regulation of
economic relations. "Meanwhile, what investors need is stable rules
of the game, qualified human resources, and adequate infrastructures,"
he said.
"The most important thing about DCFTA is that it opens a 500 million
market to Georgia. This is a big stimulus for production development
in Georgia. This will enable the country raise investments from the
non EU-countries that seek to enter the market and lack free trade
regime with Europe," he said. The press conference is organized as
part of the Region Research Center's project "Relevant Dialogues for
Armenia Media."
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=09F70610-BB4C-11E4-ACDF0EB7C0D21663
by David Stepanyan
Monday, February 23, 14:06
The Armenia-Georgia good-neighbored relations may well become a link
between the EU and EEU, Beka Natsvilishvili, one of Georgia's Social-
Democratic Party leaders, said in an online interview with ArmInfo.
"We should not discard Russia's factor. The pressure Moscow exerted on
Armenia to make it align with the EEU was not a result of its fears
to lose Armenia as an economic partner. There were other fears - the
fear to lose the South Caucasus as a whole region, amid attractive
offers of the European Union, and the fear to lose the military base
in Armenia," he said.
According to Natsvilishvili, the governments of both Georgia and
Armenia need to display a more creative approach to the new investment
opportunities, production in Georgia, free access to the European
market that will Armenian companies receive in case of signing a DCFTA
with Georgia. The political expert is sure that the positive sides of
Georgia's joining the Association Agreement with the EU overshadow
the negative ones. He outlined such factors as cooperation in the
field of political reform, culture and education, visa regulations,
free movement for citizens and companies. He believes that the economic
reform will be the most complicated undertaking, considering that under
Saakashvili, economic reforms were oriented at total de-regulation of
economic relations. "Meanwhile, what investors need is stable rules
of the game, qualified human resources, and adequate infrastructures,"
he said.
"The most important thing about DCFTA is that it opens a 500 million
market to Georgia. This is a big stimulus for production development
in Georgia. This will enable the country raise investments from the
non EU-countries that seek to enter the market and lack free trade
regime with Europe," he said. The press conference is organized as
part of the Region Research Center's project "Relevant Dialogues for
Armenia Media."
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=09F70610-BB4C-11E4-ACDF0EB7C0D21663