Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday told his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán his Government had ensured an “open, transparent and inclusive process” for the implementation of the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting Tbilisi its membership candidate status, according to Agenda.ge.

In their Tbilisi meeting, Garibashvili highlighted the country was expecting a “fair” and “merit-based” decision from the bloc in December, before stressing the upgrade of bilateral ties between the countries to a “relatively new level”, the Government press office said.

Extending his gratitude to Orbán for his office’s “unwavering support” for Georgia’s European integration, the head of the Georgian Government pointed to “joint efforts” to further strengthen cooperation and promote ties by “high-level meetings”.

Garibashvili also said the holding of an intergovernmental council meeting in Tbilisi as part of the visit was a “practical implementation” of the declaration on strategic partnership signed between the countries last year.

The officials also discussed economic partnership and noted the trade turnover between the countries had increased by 21 percent this year and amounted to $46.62 million, and indicated “great potential” to “fully use” the potential of economic cooperation.

Garibashvili said his country was interested in attracting investments in renewable energy, logistics and tourism, before reviewing the Black Sea submarine electricity cable connecting the South Caucasus region and Europe.

He also noted the implementation of flagship projects initiated by Georgia was “vital” for using the “full potential of energy and achieving common goals in energy security”.