Organized by the EU-Georgia Business Council and supported by the USAID Economic Governance Program, the first meeting of the Honorary Council of the “Black Sea Platform” was held in Tbilisi.

“Black Sea security is even more important than ever, not only because Russia has launched this brutal war against Ukraine and complicated maritime movements through the Black Sea, including grain shipments that are vital for food security all around the world, but also because there are real opportunities for Georgia to play an important role in connecting Central Asia to Europe through the middle corridor.

It’s an important time to look at the opportunities for Georgia and to encourage Georgia to get started on building the infrastructure that is going to play a vital role - not just the undersea electricity cable to Europe, which of course is very important, but also roads, railways, and many other infrastructure projects that need to get started right away linking Central Asia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, to Europe.

This is a tremendous opportunity to bring good jobs, more markets, and a real improvement in the quality of life for every Georgian. I sincerely hope that Georgia will get to work on this right away”, - said Kelly Degnan, the US Ambassador in Georgia, who also attended the event.