The Parliament hosted the Presentation of the Thematic Inquiry “Engagement of diaspora in the country"s development: Attracting Sustainable Diaspora Capital” organized by the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee.

“Our political team has highly concentrated on the diaspora issues deriving from the outcomes of the Constitutional Reform of 2017, according to which, the attention to the diaspora is safeguarded on the Constitutional level. The Parliament carries the commitment to ensure the legal base to be encouraging, simplifying the legal state of our diaspora members and reinforcing their attribution to their homeland”, - said the Speaker of the Parliament.

As he noted, the economic and political power of Georgia, especially providing the current globalization milieu, cannot be ensured without the active participation of the diaspora since the diaspora is an imperative asset of the country.

Per his information, the meetings with the diaspora representatives during the visits to various countries reveal the immense value attached by the diaspora society to the Georgian culture.

“The paramount role in this process is played by our church, which stands as a hearth of attraction for every Georgian, to enrich them with not only spiritual food but to maintain the Georgian culture, teach the Georgian language among children, organize Sunday schools etc. and thus, I would like to express my special gratitude to our church and the diaspora organizations for their exceptional synergy”, - added Shalva Papuashvili.

“I am confident that this thematic inquiry will be proceeded with even thorough scrutiny. The resources possessed by our diaspora, is it their intellectual or economic assets, shall be, to a maximal extent, benefited for the country”, - said the First Vice-Speaker, Giorgi Volski.

The objectives and outcomes of the thematic inquiry were introduced by the Chair of the Diaspora Committee, Beka Odisharia: “For years, the Georgian diaspora strongly backs the Georgian economy and the country.

We aspire to actively collaborate with our diasporas to enhance the slogan “Strong Diaspora, Strong Georgia”. Article 5 of the Constitution of Georgia reflects that the state shall take care of the compatriots residing abroad and the maintenance and enhancement of their links with the homeland. We have studied the examples of numerous countries, got cognizant of the statistical data and the migration processes entailed by visa liberalization and our advantage to freely move through the EU, which will further facilitate the reinforcement of the links”.

The thematic inquiry aimed to reveal the ways for the improved engagement of the diaspora in the development of Georgia and the effective attraction of diaspora capital. The presentation included the online participation of Georgian citizens residing abroad.