Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that Georgia is thankful to the US for its 32-year support. According to the Speaker, deepening strategic cooperation with the US is significant. It also concerns economic and people-to-people relations.

“The Prime Minister spoke about this issue, and our vision on intensification of these relations is obvious. We want our strategic partnership with the US to be translated into tangible economic and people-to-people relations, visa-free travel, and investments. All these should be promoted. We are taking all steps. We have a very favourable investment climate. Georgia is safe for the American people. As for direct flights, we are ready to assist both American and Georgian air companies. And we expect steps to be taken in response,” he said.

The Speaker remarked that the US have a visa regime with Georgia, while this obligation is lifted from the Georgian side.

“The will of the US is needed to lift the visa regime. We understand that the US does not have visa-free travel with many countries, but it does have visa-free travel with the unrecognized state of Taiwan. I don’t think that Georgia, with its 3.5 million population, poses any threat to the United States in terms of migration. It will be another good gesture towards the Georgian people,” he said.

Shalva Papuashvili said he believed a “combination of all these tools” would contribute to people-to-people and economic relations to attract US investments.

“This is how the strategic partnership develops in general, and we want our efforts to be accompanied by responsive steps from the US side,” he said.