NATO is our main aspiration and we are fully committed to this aspiration which is supported by a very big majority of our population and I’m very optimistic about it,- Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze said in his interview with CNBC TV.

Mamuka Bakhtadze told CNBC that Georgia saw NATO and EU membership as goals.

“If you look at our performance over the last few years Georgia is really doing great on this path ... Last year during a Brussels conference once again NATO reaffirmed that Georgia will eventually become a member of NATO, so we are very motivated and we’re trying to take our relationship with NATO to another level,” Mamuka Bakhtadze said.

PM Bakhtadze said that Georgia is aiming to be an economic hub in the region and said it was a “natural candidate” to be so because of its location.

“Georgia is a gateway for eight land-locked countries, the market of these countries is around 100 million people which is the fastest-growing consumer market in the world,” he said.