Vera Kobalia will administer the Ministry of Economy and Steady Development... Print
Tuesday, 06 July 2010 13:17

The Prime-Minister of Georgia Nika Gilauri introduced the new Minister of Economy and Steady Development – Vera Kobalia to the employees on July 3. Nika Gilauri expressed his hope that Vera Kobalia will be the Minister who will successfully run the Ministry for many years. The Prime-Minister noted that the country has great achievements in terms of economic development but there are still two serious problems – inflow of investments and the pace of privatization processes. “These are the two mainstream directions of the Ministry of Economy and Steady Development and this will be the main objective of the newly appointed Minister,” – Gilauri said. The Prime-Minister wished luck to the new Minister and also talked about her path – Kobalia worked abroad; she comes from the private sector and understands the investment issues well. This will help her to enlarge the business sector in the county and accelerate the privatization process. The Prime-Minister also thanked the former Minister of Economy for his work. The newly appointed Minister of Economy and Steady Development Vera Kobalia said that there is a lot to be done in a short period of time so it is important to work actively: “If we want to be tourists in our own country, we can do nothing and let the occupants rule our country, but I am sure that we don’t want this. We are hardworking people; my colleagues and I will even work on weekends to improve Georgian economy, strengthen small business, and introduce many investors and tourists to our country. I shall speak about the improvement of the economy until every single person has a normal life” – Vera Kobalia said. The Minister named employment as her number one priority but also talked about the importance of developing agriculture in order for the production not only to be exported abroad but also take its significant place on the local market. Attracting investments is also very important; the investors should be offered programs worked out beforehand. The Ministry must accelerate privatization processes and develop tourism. Vera Kobalia was born on August 24, 1981 in Sokhumi. She moved to Canada after the war in Sokhumi where she spent last 15 years. Vera Kobalia worked on managing positions in Canadian business-companies and different nongovernmental organizations. She returned to Georgia in February, 2010 and became the leader of “Coalition for Justice” organization. The new Minister of Economy and Steady Development names employment, development of tourism and small business as her number one priorities. The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili talked about the changes in the government structure in June 26 and the Prime-Minister introduced the new government team on a plenary sitting on July 2. The main priority of the new team will be defeating poverty. The government of Georgia expressed its trust to the new program.