TBILISI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Thursday that his country expects to have free trade agreement with the European Union in 2013.

"We have opened free trade talks with the European Union and it is realistic that we will complete it next year. It is realistic for Georgia to have a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union from next year," said Saakashvili.

The president of the South Caucasus country made the remark two days after EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht visited Tbilisi to officially open negotiations on free and comprehensive free trade area (FCFTA).

"And on the other hand, we will also have free trade agreement with the United States," he added, referring to the promise made by U.S. President Barack Obama during their meeting on Jan. 30 in the White House.

Georgian Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri has said that the FCFTA negotiations would take between 18 and 24 months to complete.

The EU trade commissioner, however, did not specify when the talks would be completed although he suggested during an interview with RFE/RL that it would not take as long as it had taken with Ukraine.

The FCFTA negotiations between the EU and Ukraine were conducted from May of 2008 to October of 2011.

The Georgian president expects the launch of the free trade regime to create more jobs for the Georgians, solving practically the country's employment problem.

Official figures put current unemployment rate at around 18 percent while unofficial estimates place it at over 30 percent.

Source: Xinhua

• New-generation FTAs open wider export opportunities to Middle East and South Asia
• The new FTA provides a boost for Vietnamese goods to enter the Halal market
• Patents become new competitive weapon for cooperatives
• Resolution 10-NQ/TW marks significant upgrade in Viet Nam’s FDI approach
• DDG Nordquist: WTO remains the foundation of global trade despite growing challenges