Georgian PM: reducing urban-rural inequality to be key focus over next five years

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday highlighted the country's robust economic performance, outlining a strategic roadmap aimed at transitioning Georgia into a high-income economy over the coming decade.

Addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Kobakhidze emphasised that national macroeconomic milestones - underscored by sustained high growth rates - were successfully translating into measurable social welfare improvements across the country.

“We can already see these results reflected in concrete and measurable indicators, demonstrating improvements in conditions in Georgia. For example, the poverty rate has declined threefold to 7.1%, compared with 21.3% in 2020. However, this achievement is only one part of the broader transformation we seek to accomplish. Accordingly, over the next five years, our main focus will be reducing the inequalities between urban and rural areas, expanding opportunities in every region, ensuring that the benefits of economic growth are broadly distributed, and making sure that no one is left behind”, he said.

The Prime Minister linked these objectives to Georgia’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s cooperation framework with the United Nations for 2026-2030.

“These priorities are fully aligned with Georgia’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as also reflected in the new agreement with the United Nations on cooperation for sustainable development for the 2026-2030 period”, Kobakhidze noted.

“In the longer term, our ambition for the coming decade is to transform Georgia from an upper-middle-income country into a high-income economy. This will be achieved through greater economic diversification, the expansion of knowledge-based activities, and an improvement in shared prosperity”, he concluded.