Rashid Meredov and Mikheil Janelidze, July 17, 2017. Photo: MFA Georgia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov visited Tbilisi on July 17, where he met his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Janelidze, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Energy Minister Ilia Eloshvili.

Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze was the first to meet Meredov.

“Political cooperation between our countries is dynamically developing, particularly in the last few years. This is manifested in high level visits and meetings, and I am sure that with this pace, we will achieve tangible results in the future,” Foreign Minister Janelidze stated at his joint press briefing with Rashid Meredov.

Both sides reported that the two Ministers covered a broad range of bilateral and regional issues at their meeting, focusing on energy and transport cooperation.

“Our countries have special location, we have special opportunities bringing benefits not only through our bilateral cooperation, but also to the entire region,” Janelidze said at the press briefing.

“Turkmenistan plays a very huge role in terms of the development of transport, energy and transit projects; we talked on these topics and set goals so that jointly, together with our partners, we work on using these opportunities,” Janelidze added.

Energy and transport cooperation was also discussed at Meredov’s meeting with Prime Minister Kvirikashvili and President Margvelashvili.

The President’s office reported after the meeting that the sides spoke on “the prospects of bilateral relations in the areas of trade, economy and energy, as well as on the development of the Lapis Lazuli Railroad and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline projects and on cooperation between the Caspian and the Black Sea regions.”

The Prime Minister’s office said the discussion focused on bilateral and regional cooperation in transport and energy sectors, including through the White Stream project.

Prime Minister’s office also announced that Giorgi Kvirikashvili is to visit Turkmenistan “in the near future.”

Turkmenistan is the leading trade partner for Georgia among Central Asian countries, according to the State Statistics Office, Geostat. Georgia’s trade turnover with Turkmenistan stood at USD 85.7 million in 2016, with exports at USD 10.3 million (USD 16 million in 2015) and imports at USD 75.4 million (USD 112 million in 2015).