Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

Otar Shamugia meets the Ambassador of the United States of America to Georgia, Kelly Degnan

The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia held a meeting with the Ambassador of the United States of America to Georgia, Mrs. Kelly Degnan, and the USAID/Georgia Mission Director Mr. Peter Wiebler.
 
The Minister expressed his gratitude to the US Government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for their long-term, significant support in the environmental protection and agricultural fields.

During the meeting, Minister Shamugia stated, that the Ministry has an Agricultural Development Strategy and an Action Plan with concrete goals, the implementation of the aforementioned policies is crucial, as it will enable to use of the existing opportunities in the sector.
 
The parties emphasized the issue of promoting Georgian high-quality products in the international markets and stressed the support of partners amid the current situation in the region.
 
The parties also discussed the challenges facing the wine sector. The maximum diversification of international markets to promote the sale of Georgian wine was underlined at the meeting.
 
" We managed to reduce the share of wine exports in the Russian market from 80% to 57% in a short time. We are actively campaigning for market diversification, however, some challenges still remain. We actively work with the importers to find alternative markets, thus promoting the sale of Georgian products in the international markets. In this process, the support of the US government is important to make Georgian wine more popular in the US market," – Mr. Otar Shamugia stated.

At the meeting, Mrs. Kelly Degnan stressed, that the United States will support Georgia in addressing the existing challenges; In coordination with the Government of Georgia, it will try to find all possible ways to promote Georgian products in the international markets. Moreover, Georgian farmers will be provided with professional training, which will help them to improve the productivity and quality of wheat to get an abundant wheat crop – was noted by Mrs. Degnan.
  
USAID/Georgia Mission Director Mr. Peter Wiebler stressed, that climate change is a priority area for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), he also added, that USAID is actively working and supporting the search for alternative sources of renewable energy in Georgia.

Mr. George Khanishvili, the First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture attended the meeting at the Ministry.