TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Saakashvili suggests to bring Georgian doctors currently working in the U.S. back to Georgia. It is unknown how many doctors will accept the proposal.

Saakashvili said it while meeting with doctors in the U.S. The leader used the meeting to speak about the reforms Georgia has carried out in health care.

The president’s administration informs that the president says Georgia will soon become a center in Europe in regards to medicine. Saakashvili also spoke about development of resort zones and noted that medical tourism has large potential.

“The medical sector is developing in Georgia. 150 small and large clinics are being opened all over Georgia. I propose that we create the most modern medical system in the Eastern and Post-Soviet space. We already have large hospitals and Koreans start constructing 200-bed large medical center, which will cost approximately USD 250-300 million. I think it will be the largest among newly set up centers in Eastern Europe and Post-Soviet space. Medical sector is set up in Georgia, which is not only for a small country with five million population – Georgia will become a medical center for the whole region, which like tourism, will bring large income to the Georgian economy.”

The president considers it important to have many professional and qualified staff. In this process he asked doctors working in the U.S. to get involved and proposed that they share their experience and knowledge with their Georgian colleagues.

“I want to call on each of you to use this opportunity and seriously think about this issue. In Georgia you can do many thinks bravely, set up new technologies and innovations. In addition, in Europe and the U.S. there are too many regulations and bureaucracy. We maximally reduce this, to be able to soon establish new technologies in Georgia like South Korea.”