Georgia Hopes To Sign Cooperation Agreements With Malaysia Next Year To Boost Ties

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 (Bernama) – Georgia, a country at the intersection of Europe and Asia, hopes to sign cooperation agreements with Malaysia in various areas including tourism, cultural and education, and issues related to taxation, says its Foreign Deputy Minister, Giorgi Sharvashidze. He said several agreements were in the pipeline and hoped it could be inked next year to further strengthen bilateral relations between his country’s capital,Tbilisi, and Putrajaya. “There are a number of pending agreements under consideration on both sides. We hope by early next year, we are able to sign a couple of agreements for cooperation in tourism, cultural and education, avoidance of double taxation, and memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SME Corporation Malaysia,” he added. He said Monday’s meeting with Malaysia’s Foreign Deputy Minister Marzuki Yahya had discussed speeding up the process of consideration. Sharvashidze was speaking to reporters after an MoU exchange between the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia here today. Also present was Georgia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Nikoloz Apkhazava. Sharvashidze said the political consultation and discussion on wider scope of issues related to bilateral cooperation agenda, as well as the MoU exchange between the two countries’ chambers of commerce, were among the milestone to commemorate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Malaysia. “Currently, Georgia and Malaysia enjoy excellent political cooperation. However, there is big gap between political and economic cooperation. Our objective is to reduce the gap and make our economic ties as strong as the political relations,” he said. Therefore, Sharvashidze said Georgia was seeking different mechanisms to achieve the objective and one of it could be establishing the intergovernmental economic commission between Georgia and Malaysia. “This was the issue we raised yesterday when meeting with my counterpart. This (idea) is our proposal. We hope a positive decision will be made by your side to have this commission which will greatly enhance economic ties,” he added. It is understood such a commission would serve as a platform to enhance economic and trade relations, as well as discuss ways to boost investment activities and deepen cooperation in various sectors that are mutually beneficial for both Georgia and Malaysia. -- BERNAMA