Diplomacy in Action
Meetings of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission's Working Groups
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 11, 2013
The
U.S. Department of State will host meetings of the U.S.-Georgia
Strategic Partnership Commission Working Groups for Defense and
Security; People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges; and Economic, Energy,
and Trade December 9-13, 2013. The Strategic Partnership Commission
working groups offer a forum to advance the broad and continued
partnership between the United States and Georgia and will take place
following Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s successful
visit to Georgia December 6.
The Defense and Security Working Group will be led by
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs
Gregory M. Kausner and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Evelyn
Farkas on December 9. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit
Zalkaliani and Deputy Minister of Defense Mikheil Darchiashvili will be
the Georgian co-chairs. The working group will discuss enhanced
bilateral defense cooperation, Georgia’s commitment to security in
Afghanistan, NATO membership, Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration,
continued borderization along Georgia’s administrative boundary lines,
U.S. support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and
international security efforts.
On December 12, the People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges
Working Group will be led by Deputy Assistant Secretary for European
and Eurasian Affairs Mark Toner and U.S. Agency for International
Development Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia
Jonathan Hale, joined by the Georgian First Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Davit Zalkaliani and Deputy Minister of Labor, Health, and
Social Affairs Mariam Jashi. Discussions will focus on promoting greater
cooperation in the areas of educational and cultural exchanges between
the United States and Georgia, Georgia’s engagement with its occupied
territories, English language education programs, implementation of
Georgia’s second MCC compact, public health research and other
scientific collaboration, and cooperation on consular issues.
The Economic, Energy, and Trade Working Group will be led
by Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs
Robert Manogue, and Skip Jones, Executive Director for Europe and
Eurasia Global Markets at the U.S. Department of Commerce: International
Trade Administration on December 13. The Georgian delegation will be
led by First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Zalkaliani and
Deputy Minister of Economic and Sustainable Development Mikheil
Janelidze. The working group will explore trade delegation visits and
discuss deepening bilateral trade and investment through a range of
options including agriculture, protection of intellectual property
rights, energy security and supply diversification, infrastructure
development, and support for Georgia’s efforts to increase regional
trade and transportation.
The U.S.-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership was signed by
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Georgian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze in Washington, D.C., January 9, 2009.
The first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Commission, held in
Washington, D.C., June 22, 2009, launched four bilateral working groups
on priority areas identified in the Charter: democracy; defense and
security; economic, trade, and energy issues; and people-to-people and
cultural exchanges. Senior-level American and Georgian policy-makers
have led subsequent meetings of each of the working groups to review
commitments, update activities, and establish future objectives. For
more information, please visit: http://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/gg/usgeorgiacommission/index.htm. 
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