13:36 GMT, March 22, 2010 At the annual US-Georgia Bilateral Country Planning Conference the Georgian and US high-ranking military officials held bilateral discussions over the cooperation issues in military and security spheres and determined a set of priorities by 2010 in two countries' relations. During the meeting both sides presented the plan of action.

At the conference the Georgian side was represented by Deputy Defence Ministers Nodar Kharshiladze and Nikoloz Vashakidze, Mod and JS leadership as well as Border Police representatives. The US delegation members included officials from Defence Department, European Command, Defence Cooperation Service, as well as Marine Corpse Trainings and Advisors' Group, the US military Attaché, Col. Matthew Brand and the US Ambassador to Georgia John R. Bass.

At the conclusive meeting of a three-day conference, the sides agreed on the concrete cooperation priorities. Following the meeting Deputy Minister Nikoloz Vashakidze underlined that the US-Georgia’s cooperation is basically orientated on the professional development of the Georgian militaries. “Our priorities for the next year will involve military education and improvement of Armed Forces` control and management capabilities”-commented Deputy Minister.

American Ambassador John R. Bass expressed his appreciation to the Georgian side for its sustained contribution to the global security defence. “I am glad that we have managed to define the main cooperation and partnership incentives in both countries' security and military fields and worked out an action plan which is based on a number of leading priorities. Georgian and US governments have succeeded to reach an agreement on a number of important issues”, stated Ambassador.