Bonn Jan 22 (DPA-NT) - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel travels to Georgia Tuesday in a trip aimed at underscoring Germany's continuing political and economic interest in the Transcaucasian region, the Bonn Foreign Ministry said. Kinkel is scheduled to have meetings with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and Foreign Minister Irakli Menagarischvili during his two-day stay in Tbilisi which follows a trip to Armenia and Azerbaijan last month. Among the key issues of talks will be the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a Foreign Ministry statement said. Georgia signed a ceasefire in its war with Abkhazian separatists in 1993 but the Black Sea region remains outside of Tbilisi's control. A German diplomat is negotiating on behalf of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) between Tiblisi and South Ossetian separatists. "The visit is meant to demonstrate the will of the German government for further political and economic support of the Caucasus states which have considerable importance as a linkage between Europe and Asia," said a Foreign Ministry statement. Germany has supplied Georgia with 93 million marks (63 million dollars) in development aid and 30 per cent of the 295 million Ecu (378 million dollars) in technical and humanitarian aid supplied by the European Union. Trade between Germany and Georgia is growing but remains low. In 1994 Germany imported goods worth only 6.6 million marks from Georgia, a 44 per cent increase from the previous year, according to the Federal Statistics Office. German imports during the first half of 1995 were 4 million marks. German exports to Georgia in 1994 totalled 28 million marks, up 19 per cent from 1993. German exports for the first six months of 1995 were worth 14.6 million marks. lm /AA1234/221325 Jan 96 nnnn

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