On September 4, within the framework of the official visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Taro Kono, the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Ivane Matchavariani and the Vice-President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Noriko Suzuki have signed the loan agreement for the East-West Highway Improvement Project.

In order to finance the “East-West Highway Improvement Project” (phase 2) the Government of Japan, through JICA will allocate financial resources as a concessionary loan of 38,735,000,000 Japanese Yen (about 343 million USD).

The project considers the construction of (14.7 km) the road of one of the difficult section (Shorapani-Argveta) of East-West highway. It should be emphasized that Japanese technology will be used for this project. The completion of the project is planned in the first quarter of 2023.
The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia and the Roads Department.

The Japanese Government, through loan instruments of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supports Georgia in the priority areas such as power engineering, environmental protection, healthcare, agriculture, information technologies, educational and tourism sector.

The projects implemented and planned in the future by the Japanese government in the infrastructure sector are particularly important, that contributes to the growth of the country's competitiveness and transit potential.