State Strategy on Occupied Territories: Engagement Through Cooperation

The State Strategy on Occupied Territories: Engagement Through Cooperation is a national multi-sectoral strategy of Georgia. Its main objective is to promote interaction among the divided populations of Georgia, currently separated by occupation lines and to ensure that residents of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia enjoy the rights and privileges available to every citizen of Georgia.
These objectives shall be achieved through proactive policies, inter alia: promoting economic interaction between communities across the dividing lines, improving socio-economic conditions of the populations on the both sides of the dividing lines, and including Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia in Georgia’s international economic relations; rehabilitating and developing infrastructure that will enable the movement of goods and people across the dividing lines; supporting the preservation of cultural heritage and identity; advancing their promotion and exposure both domestically and internationally; restore and enhance agricultural and agribusiness productivity, and promote and encourage social and community activities across the dividing lines, through the creation of special economic zones, such as integrated socio-economic and/or other zones that straddle the dividing lines; support access to technologies, knowledge, and finance in key fields, and establish incentives for joint business activities to foster the creation of value added businesses; key fields include but are not limited to storage, processing, and packaging facilities, with a primary focus on the agricultural sector; create dedicated funds — with the participation of the state, donor community, and private investors — to support joint business activities and projects; seek legal solutions to enable and encourage the sale of products from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia to domestic, regional, and international markets. These mechanisms should bring the production standards in accord with international regulations and address the issues related to quality system certification, taxation and customs; seek to promote employment opportunities across the dividing lines; provide specific measures for areas close to the dividing lines, which will be considered zones of special attention, in light of their disadvantaged nature in both the economic and security spheres; and provide utmost support to the residents of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, as well as to help reduce the damage done by such disasters.