Otar Shamugia the Georgian Minister of Environment and Agriculture attended the 33rd meeting of the Steering Committee of the “European Union Program Agriculture and Rural Development”.
During the meeting the Minister thanked the European Union for its support and noted that the “European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development” has made an important contribution to granting Georgia the status of EU candidate country.
The minister also added that ” the ENPARD plays an important role in bringing Georgia’s agricultural policy closer to the agricultural policy of the European Union. Within the program more than 230 million euros were allocated including budget aid, we had specific indicators most of which we fulfilled to integrate the Georgia with European Union. At the 33rd meeting of the Steering Committee, we talked about the steps to be taken in the future and various strategies for its implementation. We have developed a concrete plan to implement the recommendations published within the framework of the European Commission report, which we have shared with our partners”.
It is to be specifically mentioned that the head of the Cooperation Department of the European Union Representation in Georgia Nikolas Senderovich focused on the progress achieved by Georgia and also said that more initiatives will be taken in the future as well.
On this occasion Nikolas Senderovich said “We discussed how we can use ENPARD’s experience and support Georgia to move to the opening stage of negotiations with the European Union. I have a great desire to see more Georgian products on the European Union market ”.
At the same meeting steps taken by Georgia in the direction of food safety, and rural and agricultural development were assessed and discussed in detail as well.
ENPARD Steering Committee meeting was organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). First Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture Nino Tandilashvili and Deputy Minister Kakha Kakabadze were also present.
After the session, a meeting of ENPARD implementing organizations and stakeholders was held led by First Deputy Minister Nino Tandilashvili. Here again, the progress of the Georgia has been discussed as well.
