Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Minister of Environment and Agriculture recently met the Ambassador Emergency and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to Georgia Anna Lieberg. They discussed the progress of ongoing joint projects and measures to boost bilateral cooperation in the future.
On this occasion the Georgian Minister Otar Shamugia congratulated the Swedish Ambassador on starting his Tenure in Georgia and wished him success. He further added that Georgia and Sweden have been cooperating actively and productively for several years in the field of environmental protection. Minister expressed hopes that this cooperation will increase in future as well.
This significant meeting discussed the project “Save Nature-Georgia” which is being supported by the Swedish government. At the same time, the issues of the development of protected areas, the draft law on biodiversity, the steps taken by Georgia towards waste management and the ways of transitioning to a circular economy were also discussed.
Georgian Minster Otar Shamugia also said, “Together we have implemented the project “Save Nature – Georgia”, within which a number of important activities have been carried out. These activities include the expansion of air quality monitoring stations as well.
Additionally “It is important that in this direction with the support of the European Union we will fully cover Georgia. We are actively working on the development of protected areas – we are planning a new space near Tbilisi that will have space for all recreation, educational and tourist activities, Minster added.
Otar Shamugia also said, “We are working on creating new protected areas in Samegrelo, Svaneti, Guria and Racha. Moreover, with Sweden’s support, we have drafted a bill on biodiversity which will be discussed in Parliament in the near future. Along with this, we are actively working on a hunting bill”.
It is to be specifically mentioned that in the last year, granting Georgia the status of EU candidate member state was a historic moment, and the progress achieved by Georgia in terms of implementation of recommendations was also remarkable. Otar Shamugia also noted that after receiving candidate status, many active steps need to be taken, in which support of the EU and partner countries is particularly important.
On the other hand, the Ambassador Emergency and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to Georgia, Anna Lieberg, said that Sweden is a strong supporter of Georgia and it is important to strengthen cooperation between the parties in the future.
The meeting was also attended by Eric Iles, Head of the Swedish Agency for International Development (SIDA), Head of the Swedish Embassy’s Environmental Program in Georgia Khatuna Zaldastanishvili and representatives of the relevant services of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture.
