Free Trade

Tamar Beruchashvili, Deputy Minister for European and Euro- Atlantic Structure Integration Issues, Irakli Gachechiladze, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Georgia and Vasil Chkoidze, President of European Integration Center were invited for the discussion in the studio. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between EU and Georgia was the topic of the discussion, in particular, the following questions were answered: what does it mean for Georgia to get FTA with EU, why is it important and what are the expectations among State and Non-state actors concerning the issue. The guests in the studio also discussed what Georgia should comply with in order to get FTA. In addition the invited experts discussed GSP+ and the problems related to its implementation. Moreover, the role of EU and its activities was the topic of talks as well, in particular how EU assists Georgia in regulatory and other reforms, recommended for implementation prior to the actual talks on FTA. Parallels were also made with post-soviet countries, such as Lithuania (FTA signed with EU in 1995) and other countries, such as Chile.

Expert consideration was conducted by Klaudius Manioka, team leader of Georgian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center  (GEPLAC).

No calls have been made in the course of the discussion.