Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced plans to establish joint customs checkpoints with neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia as part of a broader strategy to position his country as a "multifunctional regional hub" amid shifting global trade dynamics.
"The world is currently reassessing trade routes, and Georgia is emerging as a regional hub for stability and logistics," Kobakhidze said, according to local media reports.
He highlighted several "large-scale infrastructure projects" intended to facilitate this transformation, listing the East-West Highway, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the development of dry ports.
Kobakhidze specifically noted the importance of the Anaklia deep-water port on the Black Sea, which is expected to significantly increase the nation's transit capacity.
He said work on the joint customs checkpoints with Baku and Yerevan is "actively underway" with support from the Asian Development Bank.
He emphasized that Georgia currently provides essential access to the Black Sea for seven landlocked countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia and five Central Asian states.
