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Georgia signs MoU with Chinese energy company on cooperation

Xinhua, January 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

Georgia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Chinese energy company on cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Georgian government said Tuesday in a statement.

Under the MoU, Georgia mulls over selling 75 percent of the shares of its Poti Free Industrial Zone to CEFC China Energy Company Limited (CEFC China), the statement said without unveiling any detail of the planned selling.

Close to Poti Sea Port off the eastern Black Sea coast and covering 3 million square meters, the Poti Free Industrial Zone is Georgia's first free industrial zone.

CEFC China will bring the best of China's practice in developing industrial zones and attract investment in the future development of the Poti free Industrial Zone, according to the statement.

The MoU signed by Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia and representatives of CEFC China on Monday aims to tap the potential of the Belt and Road Initiative through joint initiatives.

The Georgian economy minister said the MoU is the "first step" of his country's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, adding that "with the MoU we will manage to attract other Chinese companies."

The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013 to bring together countries in Asia, Europe and even Africa via overland and maritime networks. Endi