MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

Tbilisi Silk Road Forum has been launched - the opening ceremony of the event was held at Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Prime Ministers of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Montenegro addressed the audience at the opening of the Forum. The Forum is held under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili. Prime Minister delivered the speech at the opening ceremony and talked about important regional and global political and economic issues.

“Since 2012, our Government has built and maintained an unprecedented and uninterrupted decade of peace and stability bringing confidence and predictability to our nation and our partners. Georgia experienced a full-scale military aggression in 2008 and continues to endure its consequences. This is still evident in the occupation of 20 percent of the Georgian territory by the Russian Federation and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. I confidently state that despite the devastation that we have suffered, we have not hesitated to pursue our ambitions. We have been gradually transforming Georgia into a dynamic society fully committed to peace, stability and economic development,” – Prime Minister of Georgia stated.

In their speeches, the keynote speakers of the opening panel of the Forum talked about the historical importance of the Silk Road in general, as well as the challenges of the region and the world today, and the need for cooperation and partnership between the countries in various directions.

There is an unprecedentedly high interest in the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum this year: over 2000 guests from 60 countries are participating in it. Speakers in the panel sessions are high-ranking representatives of the governments of European and Asian countries. It should be noted that in addition to the highest-ranking official delegations, the global business sector is also actively and at a high level represented at the forum.

The Forum will work for two days, on October 26-27. Ten thematic panel sessions and parallel panel discussions will be held within the Forum. The topical issues to be covered at the sessions include the increasing role of the Middle Corridor, development of the transport and logistics connectivity, financial sector, communication, energy, tourism, technologies, etc. The second day of the Forum is devoted to the discussion of Georgia’s investment opportunities.

Moderators of the sessions held within the Forum are the leading BBC, Bloomberg and Deutsche Welle journalists. About 200 local and foreign journalists are to cover the event.