Georgia is interested in becoming an integral part of the new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan transport route, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili has said.

Kvrivishvili made the remarks at the 11th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Georgia and Uzbekistan, The Caspian Post reports, citing the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

She said Georgia intends to continue playing a key role in connecting the countries involved in the route with European and other markets.

“I would like to highlight a very important new initiative that Georgia has focused on. We are extremely interested in Georgia becoming an integral part of the new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan transport route and continuing to play a key role in connecting these countries to European and other markets,” she said.

Kvrivishvili noted that Georgia is making significant investments in transport and logistics infrastructure to achieve this goal. The country is modernizing its railway network, with plans to increase its annual freight capacity from 15 million to 29 million tons by 2029.

She also announced that the parties had agreed on specific measures to expand trade and economic ties. Georgia aims to increase its trade turnover with Uzbekistan to $1 billion in the near future.

The meeting also addressed investment attraction, the development of transport and logistics, the regional importance of the Anaklia deep-water port, and cooperation in tourism.

The Georgian side also intends to work toward increasing the number of direct flights between the two countries.

The meeting of the intergovernmental commission concluded with the signing of a joint protocol.