REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, David Usupashvili, stated here Wednesday that people-to-people contact is the key to improving relations between Indonesia and the former Soviet Union state.
"The most effective sector in improving relations between the two countries is through community interaction and that can be realized by improving cooperation in tourism and culture," Usupashvili said.
Although Georgia's territorial area and population are very small compared to Indonesia, it has many tourist attractions, including historic sites in the Caucasus Mountains, exotic beaches on the edge of the Black Sea, historic buildings, as well as the hospitality of local people, Usupashvili said.
Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and its capital Tbilisi has only about four million people, sharing a border with Russia in the east, the Black Sea in the west and Turkey in the south.
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"In 2014, Georgia was visited by 1.2 million foreign tourists and the number continues to increase. We hope more and more Indonesian people will visit Georgia, and vice versa," Usupashvili noted.
In addition to improving the relationship between people, cooperation in other potential sectors such as agriculture and energy technologies development could also be explored.
"We are offering Indonesia the opportunity to make Georgia a hub in Eastern Europe considering its strategic position on the Black Sea," he said.
Georgia can also take advantage of the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community which will be applied on December 31, 2015.
Georgia puts Indonesia as the most important country in the Southeast Asia as it is an economic powerhouse in the region with a population of about 250 million, dozens of times more than Georgia, Usupashvili affirmed.
"That is why Georgia chose to open an embassy in Jakarta and this is the first embassy in Southeast Asia," he said.
Georgia is one of Indonesia's potential trade partners in the Caucasus region with a value of trade between the two countries amounting to US$79.32 million in 2014 with a surplus for Indonesia of US$66.17 million.
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