On 25 December, the Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and the Japanese Ambassador to Georgia Tadaharu Uehara signed an agreement which states that Japan will send experts and volunteers to assist in the development of Georgia’s economy, infrastructure and other fields, marking Georgia as the first country in the region to receive Japanese volunteers, reported agenda.ge.

“Per the agreement, Japan will send volunteers to Georgia to provide consultations and support for the Georgian economy and other fields. I believe that sharing the experience will bring much benefit to our country,” Zalkaliani stated.

The strengthening of Georgian-Japanese relations started on 5 September 2018 when the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono visited Georgia, which was the first visit of a Japanese Foreign Minister in the past 26 years of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

Kono’s Deputy Press Secretary Mitsuko Shino then announced the start of Japan’s Caucasus Initiative, which will involve two policy components – providing assistance in human resource development state building and supporting infrastructure development and business environment improvement.

The self-sustained development involves two pillars. The first pillar is assistance for the development of architects for state building, which is assistance for human resources development – human resources in the area of rule of law, environment disaster risk reduction, economic and social infrastructures and introduction of Japanese culture and assistance for Japanese language education.

“Within this initiative we would like to invite young lawyers, or diplomats, or experts on investments and others to support your nation building up for the 21st century,” said Shino. 

The second pillar is assistance for paving the way to ‘Appealing Caucasus’. “The Caucasus region is important for us in terms of its geographical location. It is for us a gateway or a bridge between Asia to Europe and furthermore to the Middle East. For us the stability of the Caucasus is not only in the interest of this region but also the stability of international society. We would like to support the stability of the Caucasus region”, Shino said.

Also, during Kono’s visit, the negotiations between Georgia and Japan on a free trade agreement started.

The last high-level exchange between the two countries occurred on 24 October 2019 when the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.  Abe stated that he was  delighted that there “have been active high-level visits between the two countries in recent years,” and “the interest of Japanese companies is also increasing under the Georgia’s favourable business environment, and the early conclusion of the Investment Agreement is important in order to further stimulate the business exchanges.”