"Georgia, along with Azerbaijan, played a significant role in the supply of tea to Soviet countries," the First Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture, Giorgi Khanishvili, said during the online webinar dedicated to the International Tea Day, on the virtual round table, "Overview of the tea sector in Georgia and Azerbaijan." Presentations on the current situation, challenges, and plans in the tea sector in Georgia and Azerbaijan were presented at the meeting.
According to Giorgi Khanishvili, tea plantations covered an area of 65,000 hectares in Georgia.
"As of today, we have a number of projects on which the revival of the tea sector is significantly dependent. In the coming years, the focus will be on the quality of Georgian tea," he said.
The regional webinar was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (FAO REU) in cooperation with the FAO Investment Center. At the webinar, participants discussed issues of raising international awareness of the potential for tea production in Azerbaijan and Georgia, sharing international best practices in tea production, and the results of a joint project of FAO and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The meeting was attended by the Minister of Agriculture of AzerbaijanInam Karimov, representatives of international financial institutions (EBRD, World Bank), relevant ministries, government agencies, research centers, and tea companies.
