Georgia invites investors to base their business at Tbilisi Free Zone

Georgia is inviting international and local companies to base their export-oriented businesses in a special tax-free area in capital Tbilisi that offers business-friendly regulations and a favourable tax system.

Today authorities behind the Tbilisi Free Zone (TFZ) presented the project to representatives from the business society, chambers of commerce, diplomatic corps and the media.

We extend an invitation to all investors who are planning to start doing business in Georgia to visit the Tbilisi Free Zone first, which is an ideal tenancy destination for international and local companies in East Georgia,” said Giorgi Tabidze, director general of Georgia’s Technology Park. The Technology Park was created by the Georgian National Agency and BitFury Group, a Bitcoin Blockchain infrastructure provider and transaction processing company.

Mega Data Centre by the BitFury Group was the first major company to locate itself in the Tbilisi Free Zone. The firm set up its roots in December 2015 when the Tbilisi Free Zone officially opened.

BitFury Mega Data Centre takes three ha land at Tbilisi Free Zone. Photo by TFZ.

Georgia expected to receive $100 million USD investments following the announcement of the Tbilisi Free Zone, which offered businesses combined benefits of being located in Georgia’s capital city and a tax-free environment.

Tabidze said the Tbilisi Free Zone was the only free industrial zone of East Georgia.

Spread over 17 hectares of land, the Tbilisi Free Zone is located in Gldarin, 17km from the city centre.

The Tbilisi Free Zone is divided into 28 individual plots. The entire campus enjoys direct access to the largest labour pool of Georgia as well as being in close proximity to the main cargo transport highway.

The Tbilisi Free Zone is divided into 28 individual plots. Photo by TFZ.

BitFury Data Centre has taken a three hectare territory while the remaining 14 hectares of land is still free for interested businesses,” Tabidze said.

The land plots may be leased individually or collectively for up to 50 years.

Tbilisi Free Zone is prepared to welcome companies from all areas of business including: 

• Technology;
• Trading and services;
• Light industrial manufacturing;
• Logistics;
• Warehousing; and more.

The Tbilisi Free Zone will be the perfect place for developing the IT industry and specifically for developing data centres, a lighting industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and many other areas,” said Tabidze.

Who can set up a business at the Tbilisi Free Zone?

Local and foreign individuals or legal entities all are allowed to establish a Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) enterprise within the Tbilisi Free Zone. Ordinary registration procedures state the FIZ businesses may be registered at Entrepreneurial and Non-Entrepreneurial Legal Entities in one day.

The income of companies registered as a FIZ enterprise will be exempt from Corporate Income Tax. Photo by TFZ.

Tax advantages of the Tbilisi Free Zone

Companies who base their export-oriented businesses in the Tbilisi Free Zone will benefit from operational and tax advantages, said Tabidze.

In terms of operational advantages, businesses will enjoy reliable infrastructure, low rental prices, easy company set-up, low costs of utilities and communications, and many other advantages.

As for the tax advantages the benefits will include: 

• The income of companies registered as a FIZ enterprise will be exempt from Corporate Income Tax;
• Interest and Dividends paid by a FIZ enterprise will not be taxed and will not be included in the taxable income base of the receiver;
• Trade between FIZ enterprises will be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT);
• FIZ enterprises will not be liable to assess and pay Reverse Charge VAT (RCVAT);
• Exports will be exempt from VAT with the entitlement to tax credit;
• Property, including land located in a Free Industrial Zone will be exempt from property tax; and
• Trade between a FIZ enterprise and a Georgian company will be taxed at four percent of the invoice value.

The business society representatives learnt about the advantages of locating business in TFZ. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

As a result companies will make significant tax savings on: 

• Corporate tax – 15 percent of the taxable profit base;
• Property tax – one percent of the average book value of property;
• Import tax – up to 18 percent of import value;
• VAT – 18 percent; and
• Dividend tax – five percent.

Why Georgia?

The decision to open a Free Industrial Zone in Georgia was determined by the many advantages Georgia offered to businesses.

Its valuable strategic location, preferential trade regimes, reliable infrastructure, competitive labour, low taxes, corruption free environment and stable banking sector were the main factors that made Georgia an attractive country to open a Free Industrial Zone, said Tabidze.

Today Giorgi Tabidze, director general of Georgia’s Technology Park presented the TFZ to the public. Photo by TFZ. 

Georgia has earned its reputation as a pre-eminent commercial centre with an innovative, dynamic and entrepreneurial business culture. Strategically located at the crossroads of trade and commerce between East and West, Georgia is ideally positioned to access markets of Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe and the CIS countries. Being on the bridge between Europe and Asia, the Georgian economy is highly integrated with international markets. Owing to the DCFTA with EU, Georgia enjoys direct access to nearly one billion markets, said Tabidze while presenting the project.

Georgia’s attractiveness as a country with a favourable business environment is supported by several reports and awards: 

• The Doing Business Report by the World Bank ranked Georgia 15th in terms of ease of doing business in 2015;
• The Heritage Foundation rated Georgia 22nd on a list of the freest economies in the world;
• Georgia placed 48th among 168 countries in the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by Transparency International, making it the top country in the post-Soviet region (except for the Baltic States) in fighting corruption;
• Georgia ranked a steady BB by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, and Ba3 Positive by Moody’s ratings.