4. The Parties shall encourage the use of interoperable means of authentication.
Article 9.8. Paperless Trading
Each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) make trade administration documents available to the public in digital or electronic form; and
(b) accept trade administration documents submitted electronically as the legal equivalent of the paper version of those documents.
Article 9.9. Online Consumer Protection
1. The Parties recognise the importance of adopting and maintaining transparent and effective measures to protect consumers from misleading, deceptive and fraudulent commercial practices when they engage in digital trade.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain consumer protection laws to proscribe misleading, deceptive, and fraudulent commercial activities that cause harm or potential harm to consumers engaged in digital trade. (3)
Article 9.10. Personal Data Protection
1. The Parties recognise the economic and social benefits of protecting the personal data of persons who conduct or engage in electronic transactions and the contribution that this makes to enhancing consumer confidence in digital trade.
2. To this end, each Party shall adopt or maintain a legal framework that provides for the protection of the personal data of the users of digital trade in compliance with the internationally recognised principles and standards. (4)
Article 9.11. Principles on Access to and Use of the Internet for Digital Trade
To support the development and growth of digital trade, each Party recognises that consumers in its territory should be able to:
(a) access and use services and applications of their choice, unless prohibited by the Party's law;
(b) run services and applications of their choice, subject to the Party's law, including the needs of legal and regulatory enforcement activities; and
(c) connect their choice of devices to the Internet, provided that such devices do not harm the network and are not otherwise prohibited by the Party's law.
Article 9.12. Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Messages
1. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain measures regarding unsolicited commercial electronic messages sent to an electronic mail address that:
(a) require a supplier of unsolicited commercial electronic messages to facilitate the ability of a recipient to prevent outgoing reception of those messages; or
(b) require the consent, as specified in the laws and regulations of each Party, of recipients to receive commercial electronic messages; or
(c) otherwise provide for the minimisation of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to provide recourse against a supplier of unsolicited commercial electronic messages that does not comply with a measure adopted or maintained in accordance with paragraph 1.
3. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate in appropriate cases of mutual concern regarding the regulation of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
Article 9.13. Cross-Border Flow of Information
Recognizing the importance of the free flow of information in facilitating trade, and acknowledging the importance of protecting personal data, the Parties shall endeavour to refrain from imposing or maintaining unnecessary barriers to electronic information flows across borders.
Article 9.14. Open Data
1. The Parties recognise that facilitating public access to and use of open data contributes to stimulating economic and social benefit, competitiveness, productivity improvements and innovation. To the extent that a Party chooses to make available open data, it endeavours to ensure:
(a) that the information is appropriately anonymised, contains descriptive metadata and is in a machine readable and open format that allows it to be searched, retrieved, used, reused and redistributed freely by the public; and
(b) to the extent practicable, that the information is made available in a spatially enabled format with reliable, easy to use and freely available Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and is regularly updated.
2. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate to identify ways in which each Party can expand access to and use of open data, with a view to enhancing and generating business and research opportunities.
Article 9.15. Digital Government
1. The Parties recognise that technology can enable more efficient and agile government operations, improve the quality and reliability of government services and enable governments to better serve the needs of their citizens and other stakeholders.
2. To this end, the Parties endeavour to develop and implement strategies to digitally transform their respective government operations and services, which may include:
(a) adopting open and inclusive government processes focusing on accessibility, transparency, and accountability in a manner that overcomes digital divides;
(b) promoting cross-sectoral and cross-governmental coordination and collaboration on digital agenda issues;
(c) shaping government processes, services and policies with digital inclusivity in mind;
(d) providing a unified digital platform and common digital enables for government service delivery;
(e) leveraging emerging technologies to build capabilities m anticipation of disasters and crises and facilitating proactive responses;
(f) generating public value from government data by applying it in the planning, delivering and monitoring of public policies. and adopting rules and ethical principles for the trustworthy and safe use of data;
(g) making government data and policy-making processes (including algorithms) available for the public to engage with; and
(h) promoting initiatives to raise the level of digital capabilities and skills of both the populace and the government workforce.
3. Recognising that the Parties can benefit by sharing their experiences with digital government initiatives, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate on activities relating to the digital transformation of government and government services, which may include:
(a) exchanging information and experiences on digital government strategies and policies;
(b) sharing best practices on digital government and the digital delivery of government services; and
(c) providing advice or training, including through exchange of officials, to assist the other Party in building digital government capacity.
Article 9.16. Digital and Electronic Invoicing
1. The Parties recognise the importance of digital and electronic invoicing to increase the efficiency, accuracy and reliability of commercial transactions. Each Party also recognises the benefits of ensuring that the systems used for digital and electronic invoicing within its territory are interoperable with the systems used in the other Party's territory.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that the implementation of measures related to digital and electronic invoicing in its territory supports cross-border interoperability between the Parties' digital and electronic invoicing frameworks. To this end, each Party shall endeavour to base its measures relating to digital and electronic invoicing on international frameworks.
3. The Parties recognise the economic importance of promoting the global adoption of digital and electronic invoicing systems, including interoperable international frameworks. To this end, the Parties shall endeavour to:
(a) promote, encourage, support or facilitate the adoption of digital and electronic invoicing by enterprises;
(b) promote the existence of policies, infrastructure and processes that support digital and electronic invoicing;
(c) generate awareness of, and build capacity for, digital and electronic invoicing; and
(d) share best practices and promote the adoption of interoperable international digital and electronic invoicing systems.
Article 9.17. Digital and Electronic Payments
1. Recognising the rapid growth of digital and electronic payments, in particular those provided by non-bank, non-financial institutions and financial technology enterprises, the Parties shall endeavour to support the development of efficient, safe and secure cross-border digital and electronic payments by:
(a) fostering the adoption, and use of internationally-accepted standards for digital and electronic payments;
(b) promoting interoperability and the interlinking of digital electronic payment infrastructures; and
(c) encouraging innovation and competition in digital and electronic payments services.
2. To this end, each Patty shall endeavour to:
(a) make publicly available its laws and regulations of general applicability relating to digital and electronic payments, including in relation to regulatory approval, licensing requirements, procedures, and technical standards;
(b) finalise decisions on regulatory or licensing approvals relating to digital and electronic payments in a timely manner;
(c) not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between financial institutions and non-financial institutions in relation to access to services and infrastructure necessary for the operation of digital and electronic payment systems;
(d) adopt or utilise international standards for electronic data exchange between financial institutions and services suppliers to enable greater interoperability between digital and electronic payment systems;
(e) facilitate the use of open platforms and architectures such as tools and protocols provided for through APIs and encourage payment service providers to safely and securely make APls for their products and services available to third parties, where possible, to facilitate greater interoperability, innovation and competition in electronic payments; and
(f) facilitate innovation and competition and the introduction of new financial and electronic payment products and services in a timely manner, such as through adopting regulatory and industry sandboxes.
Article 9.18. Digital Identities
Recognising that cooperation between the Parties on digital identities for natural persons and enterprises will promote connectivity and further growth of digital trade, and recognising that each Party may take different legal and technical approaches to digital identities, the Parties shall endeavour to pursue mechanisms to promote compatibility between their respective digital identity regimes. This may include:
(a) developing appropriate frameworks and common standards to foster technical interoperability between each Party's implementation of digital identities;
(b) developing comparable protection of digital identities under each Party's respective legal frameworks, or the recognition of their legal effects, whether accorded autonomously or by agreement;
(c) supporting the development of international frameworks on digital identity regimes;
(d) exchanging knowledge and experience on best practices relating to digital identity policies and regulations, technical implementation and security standards, and the promotion of the use of digital identities.
Article 9.19. Artificial Intelligence
1. The Parties recognise that the use and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming increasingly important to digital trade, offering significant social and economic benefits to natural persons and enterprises. In view of this, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate, in accordance with their respective laws and policies, through:
(a) sharing research and industry practices related to AI technologies and their governance;
(b) promoting and sustaining the responsible use and adoption of AI technologies by businesses and across the community; and
(c) encouraging commercialisation opportunities and collaboration between researchers, academics and industry.
2. The Parties also recognise the importance of developing ethical governance frameworks for the trusted, safe and responsible use of AI technologies that will help realise the benefits of AI. In view of the cross-border nature of digital trade, the Parties further acknowledge the benefits of ensuring that such frameworks are internationally aligned as far as possible. To this end, the Parties shall endeavour to:
(a) collaborate on and promote the development and adoption of ethical governance frameworks that support the trusted, safe and responsible use of AI technologies, including through relevant international fora; and
(b) take into consideration internationally recognised principles or guidelines when developing such frameworks.
Article 9.20. Cooperation
1. Recognising the importance of digital trade to their collective economies, the Parties shall endeavour to maintain a dialogue on regulatory matters relating to digital trade with a view to sharing information and experiences, as appropriate, including on related laws, regulations, their implementation and best practices with respect to digital trade, including in relation to:
(a) online consumer protet:tion;
(b) personal data protection;
(c) anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance for digital trade;
(d) unsolicited commercial electronic messages;
(e) authentication;
(f) intellectual property concerns with respect to digital trade;
(g) challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises in digital trade; and
(h) digital government.
2. The Parties have a shared vision to promote secure digital trade and recognise that threats to cybersecurity undermine confidence in digital trade. Accordingly, the Parties recognise the importance of:
(a) building the capabilities of their government agencies responsible for computer security incident response;
(b) using existing collaboration mechanisms to cooperate to identify and mitigate malicious intrusions or dissemination of malicious code that affect the electronic networks of the Parties; and
(c) promoting the development ofa strong public and private workforce in the area of cybersecurity, including possible initiatives relating to mutual recognition of qualifications.
Chapter 10. INVESTMENT
Article 10.1. Georgia-UAE Bilateral Investment Agreement
The Parties note the existence of and reaffirm the Agreement on "The Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment"' Between the Government of Georgia and the Government of the United Arab Emirates, signed at Tbilisi, Georgia, on 17 July 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "UAE-Georgia Bilateral Investment Agreement") and any subsequent amendments thereto.
Article 10.2. Objectives and Promotion of Investment
1. Each Party may, subject to its general policy in the field of foreign investment, encourage and promote in its territory investments by investors of the other Party, and shall admit such investment in accordance with its applicable laws and regulations and the intemationai commitments enter':!d into between the Parties.
2. The general objectives of this Chapter are as follows:
(a) to promote and enhance the economic cooperation between the Parties;
(b) to monitor trade and investment relations, to identify opportunities for expanding investment, and to identify issues relevant to investment that may be appropriate for negotiation in an appropriate forum;
(c) to hold consultations on specific investment matters of interest to the Parties;
(d) to work toward the enhancement of investment flows;
(e) to identify and work toward the removal of impediments to investment flows; and
(f) to seek the views of the private sector, where appropriate.
Article 10.3. Non-Application of Chapter 15 (Dispute Settlement)
The Parties agree that nothing in this Chapter shall be subject to any dispute settlement mechanism.
Article 10.4. Non-Application of other Lnternational Treaties
Substantive provisions in other international treaties, including UAE-Georgia Bilateral Investment Agreement do not in and of themselves constitute "treatment" for the purposes of this Chapter and thus, cannot give rise to a breach thereunder absent a specific measure adopted or maintained by a Party pursuant to those provisions.
Chapter 11. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Section A. General Provisions
Article 11.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
Intellectual Property embodies:
(a) copyright, including copyright in computer programmes and in databases, and related rights;
(b) patents and utility models;
(c) trademarks;
(d) industrial designs;
(e) layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits;
(f) geographical indications;
(g) plant varieties; and
(h) protection of undisclosed information.
National means, in respect of the relevant right, a person of a Party that would meet the criteria for eligibility for protection provided for in the agreements listed in 11.5 (International Agreements) or the TRIPS Agreement; and WIPO means the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Article 11.2. Objectives
The protection and enforcement of inteliect;ia I property rights should contribute to the promotion of trade, investment, technological innovation and the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutu&I advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.
Article 11.3. Principles
Nothing in this Chapter shall prevent a Party from adopting appropriate measures to prevent the abuse of intellectual property rights by right holders or the resort to practices that unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology provided that such measures are consistent with this Agreement.
Article 11.4. Nature and Scope of Obligations
Each Party shall give effect to the provisions of this Chapter. A Party may, but shall not be obliged to, provide more extensive protection for, or enforcement of, intellectual property rights under its law than is required by this Chapter, provided that such protection or enforcement does not contravene the provisions of this Chapter. Each Party shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Chapter within its own legal system and practice.
Article 11.5. International Agreements
1. The Parties reaffirm their obligations set out in the following multilateral agreements:
(a) Patent Cooperation Treaty of 19 June 1970, as revised by the Washington Act of 2001;
(b) Paris Convention of 20 March 1883 for the Protection of Industrial Property, as revised by the Stockholm Act of 1967;
(c) Berne Convention of 9 September 1886 for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, as revised by the Paris Act of 1971 (Berne Convention);
(d) Madrid Protocol of 27 June 1989 relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks;
(e) WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty of 20 December 1996 (WPPT);
(f) International Rome Convention of 26 October 1961 for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations;
(g) WIPO Copyright Treaty of20 December 1996 (WCT);
(h) Budapest Treaty of 28 April 1977 on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure; and
(i) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
2. Each Party shall endeavour to ratify or accede to each of the following agreements, if it is not already a party to that agreement: .
(a) Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled; and
(b) International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991.
Article 11.6. Intellectual Property and Public Health
1. A Party may, in formulating or amending its laws and regulations, adopt measures necessary to protect public health and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development, provided that such measures are consistent with the provisions of this Chapter.
2. The Parties recognise the principles established in the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health adopted on 14 November 2001 (Doha Declaration) by the Ministerial Conference of the WTO and confirm that the provisions of this Chapter are without prejudice to the Doha Declaration.
Article 11.7. National Treatment
1. In respect of all categories of intellectual property covered in this Chapter, each Party shall accord to nationals of the other Party treatment no less favourable than it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection of intellectual property rights.