The Georgian delegation, led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, is holding high-level bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, informing the leading business companies of the nation’s investment potential in the domains of energy, tourism, hospitality, and IT technologies.

As projected by the authorities, after receiving the EU candidate country status, the business interests towards the country will soar.

In addition to the economic importance, the Davos World Forum also has a political impact with the main topic of the agenda being the Ukraine-Russia war. The world leaders are discussing ways to neutralize threats from Russia.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said he had “very interesting” meetings with representatives and heads of large companies, and “I think all this will continue.”

The PM also underscored the significance of participating in today’s panel discussion focusing on the development of the Middle Corridor. PM believes Georgia plays “a big role” in this process.

The development of the middle corridor is the country’s “key priority,” according to Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, pledging that the government would try its best to make Georgia a very reliable partner.

“Georgia serves as an efficient and effective partner in fostering connections between Europe and Asia. We will spare no effort to make Georgia a very reliable partner for our European partners, and on the other hand, to be a bridge and connection between the two continents,” the FM asserted.

Introducing the country’s economic progress seems paramount for Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili.

“It is important for us to meet with representatives of the sectors where Georgia has a special potential; we hold meetings with the world’s leading companies operating in the fields of energy, real estate, hospitality, industrial, and tourism,” said Davitashvili after meeting with Ximin Chen, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Neusoft, and the delegation of the large American financial institution, Bank of America.

One of the panel discussions at the World Economic Forum was dedicated to a lead-free future where the panelists discussed the threats and solutions stemming from the lead. In his speech, the PM talked about Georgia’s success story is fighting against lead-linked challenges.

“The National Response Package launched in 2019 with support from UNICEF and USAID included a wide-scale awareness campaign, lead biomonitoring among children and pregnant women, establishment of the Chemical Risk Factor Laboratory and the development of a Lead Surveillance System to monitor blood lead levels and identify sources of exposure.  In the 4th year of the lead response surveillance program implementation we have observed a remarkable – 75% – decrease in the prevalence of the blood lead levels among children in the region with the highest initial prevalence.

In order to sustain these achievements, Georgia has bolstered the regulatory framework concerning lead-containing products. Aligned with the EU association agreement since July 2023, we have implemented strict technical regulations controlling the manufacture, sale and import of construction paints. Legal limits have been set to govern the production, sale and import of paint with higher lead concentrations.

Additionally, to address the potential risks, Georgia has enhanced its regulatory framework concerning the lead migration in toys. Relevant regulation, enforced since 2021, focuses on ensuring the safety of toys, incorporating the legal limits to govern the production, sale and import of toys with high lead migration,” the PM added.