Consulate of Georgia opens interesting possibilities for New Zealand

                           Georgian Ambassador George Dolidze handing over the Office Signage to Hon Consul Jagjit Singh

It is almost 40 days since the office of the Honorary Consulate of George opened in Auckland and this delayed report (with our apology) nonetheless celebrates the inauguration of an important chapter in bilateral relations with a country that has not been on New Zealand’s radar thus far.

Jagjit Singh, who has assumed the role of Honorary Consul for the Republic of Georgia, has not only done people of Indian origin proud but also taken the challenge of building a meaningful and rewarding relationship with a developing country that is situated in the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

He said that he has business connections with the State of Georgia and hence is highly confident of succeeding his mission.

Georgia and New Zealand: A comparison

The Opening Ceremony, held on July 14, 2021 at the Park Hyatt in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter Lower Basin, was attended by Georgia’s Ambassador to Australia George Dolidze (accredited to New Zealand), Member of Parliament from Otahuhu-Panmure and Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, officials of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, other MPs, Members of the Georgian community in New Zealand and other guests.

Georgia is a much smaller country, both in size (69,700 square kilometres) and population (four million) compared to New Zealand (268,021 Sq kms and five million), which is reflected in bilateral trade. The total value of exports from New Zealand to Georgia was about $35.61 million in 2019, while the total value of imports from that country was about $498,000.

Neither country’s trade statistics showed goods traded but Georgia’s main exports are civilian aircraft, automobiles and automobile parts, chemical wood pulps, automobile parts, parts of gas turbines, tractors, insecticides and herbicides. New Zealand’s main exports are dairy products, fruit, wine, fish, meat, logs and wood products, machinery and equipment.

of the Honorary Consulate Office in Auckland on July 14, 2021

Constructive engagement

Mr Dolidze said that Georgia said that his country is keen on constructive engagement with Australia and New Zealand.

“We have friendly and cordial relations with New Zealand and there is enormous potential to lift our bilateral relations and two-way trade. The opening of the Office Honorary Consulate is a significant step in taking our relationship to a higher level,” he said.

Mr Singh said that he was confident of achieving his objectives.

“We will endeavour to boost our cultural, humanitarian, people-to-people, tourism and business ties. I look forward to serving the people of New Zealand and Georgia,” he said.

Some nostalgia

The closet that this Reporter got to Georgia, which is fast emerging as an important country for trade and tourism is Eduard Ambrosiyevich Shevardnadze in his role as the Foreign Minister of the USSR soon after the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. He became a leader by this own right on the other side of the Alliance.

Mr Shevardnadze became the President of Georgia upon its independence from the Soviet Union in 1995 and continued until he fell to the Rose Revolution in 2003.

About Georgia

Georgia is a country located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

It is a part of the Caucasus region, bounded to the West by the Black Sea, to the North and East by Russia, to the South by Turkey and Armenia, and to the Southeast by Azerbaijan.

It covers 69,700 square kilometres (26,911 sq miles) and has a population of four million. Georgia is a representative democracy governed as a Unitary Parliamentary Republic.

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city, home to roughly a quarter of the population.

During the classical era, several independent Kingdoms were established in what is now Georgia, such as Colchis and Iberia. 

Georgians officially adopted Christianity in the early Fourth Century, which contributed to the spiritual and political unification of early Georgian States.

Kingdom in the Golden Age

In the Middle Ages, the unified Kingdom of Georgia emerged and reached its Golden Age during the reign of King David the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great in the 12th and early 13th Centuries. Thereafter, the Kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under the hegemony of various regional powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire and successive dynasties of Persia.

In 1783, one of the Georgian Kingdoms entered an alliance with the Russian Empire, which proceeded to annex the territory of modern Georgia in a piecemeal fashion throughout the 19th century.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Georgia became an independent Republic under German protection. Following World War I, Georgia was forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1922, becoming one of its fifteen Constituent Republics.

The Independence Movement

An Independence Movement began in the 1980s leading to Georgia’s secession from the Soviet Union in April 1991. For most of the subsequent decade, post-Soviet Georgia suffered an economic crisis, political instability, ethnic conflict and secessionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Following the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia strongly pursued a pro-Western foreign policy; it introduced a series of democratic and economic reforms aimed at integration into the European Union and NATO.

The country’s Western orientation soon led to worsening relations with Russia, at one point even resulting in a brief war in 2008.

The State today

Georgia is a developing country with a high rate of Human Development, high levels of economic freedom and ease of doing business, as well as relatively low corruption indicators, although poverty and unemployment remain a challenge. It is one of the first countries in the world to legalise cannabis, becoming the only former-communist state in the world to do so.

The country is a member of international organisations including the Council of Europe, Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, EuroControl, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development Guam.