Baku lights up Heydar Aliyev Square in colours of Georgian flag
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili thanked her Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Twitter. Photo: David Zalkaliani/Twitter
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The Heydar Aliyev Centre in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku has been lit up with the colours of the Georgian flag as a sign of support and solidarity with its neighbouring country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili thanked her Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Twitter:
Tonight, the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku is lit up in the colors of the Georgian flag ????????. Thank you, @presidentaz, for this show of support. Great show of solidarity from the people of #Azerbaijan ????????. We are #StrongerTogether. pic.twitter.com/2Seu1UgYXU
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) April 14, 2020
Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani also thanked Azerbaijan for sending Georgia “a powerful message of support”:
Thank you to #Azerbaijan for sending us a powerful message of support by lighting up the Heydar Aliyev Square in the colours of the Georgian flag. There is no better way to victory than by extending helping hands to each other @AzerbaijanMFA pic.twitter.com/kd6zNM4XEU
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) April 14, 2020
Earlier, Tbilisi TV tower was also lit up with the colours of the British, Spanish and Italian flags as a sign of support and solidarity with those countries in the fight against the new coronavirus.
A total of 92 Georgian citizens have been infected with coronavirus abroad and nine have died, Deputy Georgian Foreign Ministry Mikheil Ninua reported earlier today. He said, the majority of infected individuals have mild or less severe forms of the virus.
Economic growth in Georgia is projected to reach 3 per cent in 2021, while it will be reduced by 4 per cent in 2020, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook. It says that the COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting high and rising human costs worldwide and the necessary protection measures are severely impacting economic activity.
Georgian economic growth may drop to between -6 per cent to 2.1 per cent this year due to the new coronavirus crisis, says Galt & Taggart, depending how the crisis plays out. Galt & Taggart gives three possible scenarios (optimistic, mild and pessimistic), according to which Georgian economic growth could differ based on the length of the crisis.
The European Union, Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, German Development Fund, French Development Agency will support the Georgian economy with $1.5 billion by the end of 2020, announced Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia today.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with the French Le Figaro newspaper that his country’s relations with Georgia are ‘excellent’. Azerbaijani President stressed in his remarks that the two countries call each other ‘strategic partners’.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili left for Azerbaijan earlier today, where he is scheduled to hold his first meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Zagulba Palace later today.