Barbados and the Republic of Georgia may soon formally establish diplomatic relations.
Georgia???s Ambassador to a number of countries in the region, Otar Berdzenishvili, called on Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, recently at the Minister???s Culloden Road Office.
Mr. Berdzenishvili gave the Minister a brief history of Georgia???s policies and programmes after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and its intention to reach out to countries with which it does not have diplomatic relations.
He explained that his country was keen to establish a partnership with Barbados and could collaborate with this country in a number of areas, including education, law enforcement, anti-corruption and global warming.
According to him, several other countries in the region have forged such relationships with Georgia and have also benefited from training in technical areas.
The Ambassador also offered to share a number of best practices employed by his country which helped the Government there to reduce corruption, decrease the crime rate by 80 per cent, make transactions in Government faster, and reduce taxes.
Senator McClean agreed that Barbados could learn a great deal from Georgia. She said that making the process of doing business faster through an e-governance system was one which would have significant benefits for Barbados.
The Minister noted that progress in this area had begun in the revenue collection sector and allowed for much greater compliance in that area.??The Foreign Minister also pointed out that Government was looking at ways to make it easier to access services and complete transactions.
kim.ramsay-moore@barbados.gov.bb