Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has paid a visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where he took part in a World Economic Forum meeting and a summit of G11 countries. Sixteen heads of state participated in the forum, as did some one thousand politicians and business representatives from 56 countries.

Within the framework of his visit President Saakashvili held a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein al Hashimi at which the leaders compared their respective countries' experiences. King Abdullah II said he was impressed with the reforms that are being carried out in Georgia. At the meeting it was agreed that the Jordanian King would visit Georgia in mid-June.

Afterwards, Jordan and Georgia for the first time signed a frame agreement which will form the basis for future cooperation between the two countries.

President Saakashvili then took part in the plenary meeting of the Economic Forum, which was also attended by numerous other countries' presidents and prime ministers. In his speech, entitled "Georgia - a formula for success", Saakashvili familiarized the attendees with the reforms under way in Georgia and the political and economic successes the country has achieved.

After the forum Saakashvili took part in a meeting of the G11 countries. This alliance was formed on the initiative of the Jordanian king at last September's meeting of the UN General Assembly. G11's members are Jordan, Morocco, Ecuador, Georgia, Indonesia, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Honduras, Pakistan, Croatia and El Salvador.

At the summit four primary areas for potential cooperation between G11 and G8 countries were defined:

·Investment in infrastructure

·Facilitating small and medium-sized business

·Forming a research and development base and facilitating the exchange of technologies

·Overcoming poverty and promoting education

"Our attention is focused and oriented towards achieving results - drawing up and implementing projects in the transport, tourism, energy and trade spheres...Until now the vast majority of the G8 group's assistance programmes were geared towards developing countries which were failing to develop and where reforms could not be carried out or were being carried out poorly. In fact it is countries such as ours, successfully developing countries, which need help the most, because the results of the reforms are evident. There is fertile ground here for development... I propose that we discuss this issue with the G8 countries, as well as the World Trade Organization and the UN," Georgian President Saakashvili said at the summit.

Forums such as the one in Amman seek to facilitate cooperation between the countries of these regions and the rest of the world.

After the summit a declaration was published outlining the member countries' common view on economic development. The declaration will be presented to members of the G8 summit during that alliance's summit in June.

Of G11 members Croatia has the highest per capita Gross Domestic Product, while Georgia ranks second.

During his visit to Jordan, President Saakashvili also held meetings with the leaders of Kuwait and Croatia, as well as business representatives.

Communications Office
of the President of Georgia