Zurab Abashidze: There Is a Lot of Interesting And Important Work Ahead

The nations of Georgia and Kazakhstan have been developing their relations successfully for many years. Both countries actively cooperate in all areas, but the potential for cooperation among them is greater, and they both hope that their relations will become deeper and more vibrant. In this interview, Diplomat asked the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Kazakhstan, Zurab Abashidze some pertinent questions about the relations between Georgia and Kazakhstan:

Last month, the eighth political consultation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Kazakhstan were held at the level of Deputy Ministers. How would you rate that meeting?

First of all, I would like to thank The Diplomat Magazine for the interest in Georgia-Kazakhstan relations and to welcome the readers of your publication to this interview.

As to your question, I would like to emphasize the friendly relations that have been developing for many years between the Georgian and Kazakh people. I would also like to point out that the new history of relationships we share is also rich in examples of mutual support.

Georgia highly appreciates the unwavering position of the Kazakh authorities and the general public of Kazakhstan, as concerning Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

We cooperate quite effectively within international organizations. Georgia, for example, supported Kazakhstan in her election as the OSCE chair in 2010. Also, our country has repeatedly co-sponsored UN resolutions initiated by Kazakhstan.

Our bilateral cooperation is being intensified in all directions and the format of political consultations we share has been in operation for years with effective results recorded. This mechanism facilitates specific areas of cooperation at the moment, and it also allows us agree on practical steps for future interaction. During consultations, we share visions of topical issues on bilateral and international agendas, and this gives us the opportunity to reconcile our positions.

During the Tbilisi consultations, we summarized the results achieved over the past period and we discussed the impediments that could not be resolved in certain areas with clearly outlined future action plans.

For example, by the end of the year we will finally reach an agreement on the “2020-2021 Program of Cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and the Republic of Kazakhstan.”

During the consultations we also agreed that we will start working on organizing high-level visits from 2020. We are most particular about the visit of Mr. Tleuberdi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.

There is already a good tradition of exchanging visits between our heads of sectoral ministries and agencies. These visits will continue next year and the dialogue on practical issues will also continue in the future.

Kazakhstan elected a new President a few months ago. How do you think this development will affect bilateral relations between Georgia and Kazakhstan? And, are you working on inviting him to Georgia?

As I have already mentioned, we share many years of friendly relations with the people of Kazakhstan. Since Georgia’s independence, we have established close cooperation between our states, based on mutual respect and trust, with the important contribution of the first Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev. I am confident that the current head of the country, Mr. Kassym -Zhomart Tokayev, will continue the course of close and friendly cooperation with Georgia, and will make significant contributions to the launch of new joint regional and global projects.

It is noteworthy that one of the main topics of political consultations we have on our hands, is the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Tokayev. We and our Kazakh counterparts have made it clear that such a visit is essential, and that meetings at the highest level will give us strong impetus to move to a qualitatively new level of bilateral cooperation.

When we talk about Georgia-Kazakhstan relations, trade relations spark more interest, and Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Georgia thinks the potential for trade is higher. He believes both sides need to work actively in the area of trade. How do you view this issue which many believe to impede the entry of more Kazakh investors into Georgia and vice versa? What should be done to stimulate a vibrant trade relation between both countries?

The current level of cooperation between our countries is quite high. An Intergovernmental Bilateral Economic Commission which serves as an effective mechanism for promoting cooperation has been established and has been in operation for many years. We have a very solid inter-state contractual-legal basis in operation which has yielded more than 80 signed contracts and agreements. The turnover for the 9 months of 2019 so far, is 77.158 million USD. We strongly hope that by the end of the year this figure will increase significantly.

The positions of Georgia and Kazakhstan are in line with the importance of implementing the new Silk Road project. We are successfully collaborating within the TRASECA project and the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. The latter was created in 2013, and since 2018 it has been known as the Middle Corridor. At the same time, I share my colleague’s assessment that our relationship really holds great potential. However, I view this event in a positive context. Time is changing and new challenges arise with it. Life is about finding new tasks and demanding new approaches from us to solve them. Most importantly, we understand the importance of developing close cooperation between both countries and responding appropriately to new challenges. It is important that this spirit that has reigned in bilateral consultations, as confirmed by the words of my colleague remain among us.

We are always inviting our Kazakh friends to make more intensive use of Georgia’s transit facilities and to increase freight volumes. These transit facilities benefit oil products amongst other products.

In addition, we are interested in collaborating in the field of innovation. For example, in the areas of innovation, technology, ICT and R&D commercialization. In our opinion, it is promising for us to deepen cooperation in the organization of pitch sessions for trade missions and startups, as well as in EU-initiated programs (H2020, etc.). Georgia is ready to invite potential partners to participate in the Technology Park to deepen future cooperation. We are also interested in helping Georgian startups and innovators gain entry to the Kazakh market.

Of course, we welcome Kazakh investments in the Georgian economy and as you know, our country has the best investment climate. Therefore, we urge our Kazakh friends to take bold steps and enter the Georgian investment market.

Despite concentrated flights from 4 Kazakhstani cities, and a 25% increase in Kazakh visitors last year, many pointers suggest that the potential is even greater than it is today. What do you think should be done?

From January-October 2019, the number of visitors from Kazakhstan increased by 63.9%. I’m sure the numbers will increase dramatically by the end of the year. As far as I am aware, tourists from Kazakhstan are particularly attracted to Georgian ski resorts. This coming winter season is the time when our mountainous regions will host a large number of tourists. However, I agree with you, this area of cooperation is very promising and a lot of work is ahead.

Speaking of embassy activities, what major achievements would you highlight when your tenure ends as ambassador?

Your question reminds of one quirky statement made by some diplomats. An ambassador’s mission can already be considered a success if in the time of his mission, a head of his country’s government visited the country where the Ambassador resides. In this regard, I was lucky that between 2017 and now, the former President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, and former Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze have been in Kazakhstan. After 2010, under a new government of Georgia, the Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia Mikheil Janelidze, also visited Kazakhstan. Vice Prime Ministers from Georgia have also visited Kazakhstan at various instances. As already mentioned, the exchange visits of heads of sectoral ministries and agencies are regular. The Minister of Economy of Georgia was in Kazakhstan, on a visit to the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan several times. All of this is a testament to the warm, friendly and businesslike relations between our countries. However, despite the abovementioned “diplomatic sayings”, our embassy’s plans do not end here. We have a lot of interesting and important work ahead of us.

Finally, I would like to ask you about your personal experience. This is your first experience as an ambassador so, how difficult was the transition from being a public official and politician to diplomatic service? How did you get used to Kazakhstan and the cold climate of Kazakhstan? And what would you say to the Georgian diaspora in Kazakhstan?

I can say unequivocally that the experience of a civil servant and a politician has made it easier for me to adapt. However, in my opinion, the diplomatic service is so interesting and specific that even a career diplomat will fail to know all the secrets of this important profession.

I would like to take this opportunity to especially emphasize the important role of our community in strengthening bilateral relations. Georgians living here enjoy high levels of respect within the Kazakh society. All of this certainly helps us and fosters the development of bilateral cooperation.

And as for your question about climate, I’m probably not going to be original, but to be honest - climate is created by the relationship between people, and in Kazakhstan, there is a particularly warm attitude towards Georgians and Georgia.