Bulgaria, Georgia wish to engage actively in China's "Belt and Road initiative": officials

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his visiting Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili said here on Monday that their countries want to engage actively in China's "Belt and Road initiative".

"We spoke about the One Belt, One Road initiative, and how to engage more actively Georgia and Bulgaria," Garibashvili told reporters after bilateral meeting.

Currently, the ferry connections between Bulgaria and Georgia are very important for the two Black Sea countries, Borissov said.

"The One Belt, One Road initiative provides an exceptional opportunity for Georgian and Bulgarian ports to become part of this corridor," Borissov said.

"So, we will work well in this direction, and I think that this good tripartite cooperation China-Georgia-Bulgaria could bring greater benefits in the future," he added.

The two prime ministers also discussed how to strengthen bilateral cooperation in other fields, Garibashvili said.

In particular, he said that European integration remains a cornerstone for Georgia, and here the experience of Bulgaria, which joined NATO and the European Union in 2004 and 2007 respectively, would be very helpful for his country.

Borissov and Garibashvili signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration between the two governments.

Furthermore, the agricultural ministers of Bulgaria and Georgia signed a memorandum of understanding between their ministries. Endit