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market for new cars — but the use of older vehicles has negative environmental consequences. Speaking at a conference in the Georgian capital, Kaladze said that the number of imported vehicles is increasing by 7% a year, and that 98% of them are outdated, according to a city hall statement. Overall, 90% of private cars in the country are outdated.
“The first thing to be done alongside with technical inspection is to halt importing old cars ... This might trigger some dissatisfaction, but this is the step that is to be taken. The matter concerns the health of our kids,” the mayor concluded. He now plans to raise the issue of old car imports with Georgia’s central government.
9.1.3 Transport sector news
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to mobilise over $1.2bn in financing for Georgia in 2019-2021, including for two major infrastructure corridors, ADB president Takehiko Nakao said during a visit to the Caucasian country. Nakao singled out the development of the East-West and the North-South transport and economic corridors, both of which are highly important for Georgia’s future development as part of new transit routes across Eurasia.
“These projects are critical for Georgia as it pursues a goal of becoming a regional hub through increased connectivity and trade, opening the land-locked markets of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and extending the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation corridors to the Black Sea and Europe,” the development bank said. “Going forward, Georgia will benefit from development of regional infrastructure links and diversification of its exports,” commented Nakao during his visit to Georgia on June 15, according to the bank’s statement . b ne IntelliNews commentator Kakha Baindurashvili wrote recently that Georgia’s East-West Highway could become a “backbone of the Silk Road” but stressed the need for “a very pragmatic approach coupled with smart policies” as Georgia takes its place in the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative (also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI) pioneered by Beijing.
The development of Georgia’s maritime transport sector is of vital importance to the country, newly appointed Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said during a visit to the Black Sea port at Batumi on June 25. Tbilisi aims to improve its position as a transit state bridging Europe and Asia, and hopes to benefit from participating in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), formerly One Belt, One Road (BRI), Beijing’s strategy to revive old and create new transport routes across the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. Currently, the maritime sector contributes over GEL400mn (€140mn) to the Georgian economy every year, according to Bakhtadze. However, the prime minister lamented the depletion of the Georgian fleet in recent years.
“We are excited over the fact that interest in seafaring in Adjara, and in other regions, is growing, which we must further cement and strengthen. Unfortunately, the once strong Georgian fleet has practically collapsed,” Bakhtadze said, according to a government statement .
“I remember the argument proposed back then that those ships were practically good enough only for scrap metal, and they were sold as scrap. Today, however, those ships sail under the flags of other nations, which is very heavy and painful for all of us. We must counter it with a very effective, result-oriented policy, and we must develop our own fleet step by step.” Bakhtadze also stressed the importance of modernising, specifically by
36 GEORGIA Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com