The Georgian Environment Agency has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Finnish Meteorological Institute Helsinki. The MoU will help both countries boost cooperation in meteorology, climatology, and environment.
The development came during the official visit of Georgia’s Minister of Environment and Agriculture, Otar Shamugia  to Finland. Vasil Gedevanishvili, the head of Georgia’s national environment agency signed the MoU. Peter Taalas  the director general of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), signed it on behalf of Finland.
Vasil Gedevanishvili, head of the agency  stated “We signed an important memorandum with the Finnish Meteorological Service. This MoU aims at long-term systematic cooperation with our agency. Moreover with their support and help we will introduce a new modern system for weather forecasting, which will increase the accuracy of the results and will contribute to the development of the early warning system for Georgia as well.”
Vasil Gedevanishvili is part of a visiting delegation under Otar Shamugia, he met Peter Taalas Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). During the meeting both sides talked about the importance of deepening cooperation between Georgia and Finland to mitigate the impact caused by climate change.
On the other hand the Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) Peter Taalas  underlined that efforts to improve international meteorological systems are a prerequisite for economic development for any country. It is good to see that the government of Georgia is investing in this direction.
It is worth noting that the Georgian delegation has held meetings with many Finnish officials to discuss environmental issues. The Georgian delegation is on a working visit to the Republic of Finland. The visiting delegation included Georgia’s Minister of Environment and Agriculture  Otar Shamugia, First Deputy Minister Nino Thandilashvili, Vasil Gedevanishvili Head of the National Environment Agency and Tamar Sharashidze  Deputy Head of the Agency.
At the same time  the delegation also includes the head of the Hydrometeorology Department, Ramaz Chitanava and specialists in the field. The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Georgia to the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden  Irakli Khutsurauli was also present.
