Iran-Georgia Stress Expansion Of Bilateral Cultural Ties

Tbilisi, Feb 16, IRNA – Head of the Writersˈ Union of Georgia Makvala Gonashvili and Cultural attaché of Iran’s embassy in Tbilisi Ehsan Khazaei emphasized development of the two countries’ cultural relations. In his meeting with Khazaei in Tbilisi on Thursday, Gonashvili asserted the significant position of Persian literature, in particular the Iranian poetry, in Georgian culture. ˈWritersˈ Union of Georgia is ready for sending friendship delegations to Iran as an approach towards expansion of cultural relations between the two nations.ˈ Iranian cultural attaché to Tbilisi, for his part, underlined the importance of relations between the two countriesˈ writers, translators, poets and cultural activists. ˈHolding of Iranˈs book week in Georgia for the first time is a step forward in development of Iran-Georgia cultural ties, Iranˈs embassy is ready to facilitate the two countriesˈ cultural activistsˈ relations.” Iran and Georgia have in recent years accelerated their efforts to expand bilateral and regional cooperation in all various fields. Iran and Georgia have had relations for centuries, although official diplomatic relations between the two nations in the 20th century was established on May 15, 1992. Until the early 1990s, Iran-Georgia relations were merged into Iran-Soviet relations. Since Georgiaˈs independence from the Soviet Union, the two nations have cooperated in many fields, including energy, transport, trade, education, and science. Iran is one of Georgiaˈs most important trade partners and an Intergovernmental Joint Economic Commission has been established between the two countries. The beginning of 2010 saw increasing cooperation between the two countries. Diplomats from Iranˈs foreign ministry visited Tbilisi in May 2010 to discuss Iranian investment in the construction of a hydroelectric plant as well as Iranˈs intentions to export electricity to Georgia. The meeting led to President Mikheil Saakashvili inviting his Iranian counterpart Mahmood Ahmadinejad to Tbilisi./end