Georgian Gov’t outlines plan to develop hotel and film industries

The Government of Georgia is stepping up its support for local businesses, encouraging the creation of new enterprises and developing production-oriented industries, which will all contribute to Georgia’s development.

Today Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced the Government was expanding the ‘Produce in Georgia’ state program to further encourage Georgia’s development in the hotel and movie industries - two sectors that could bring much income to the country.

We are adding two sub-components to the ‘Produce in Georgia’ program to develop the perspectives of the hotel and movie industries,” said Garibashvili.

The PM also announced another food factory will be built in the country within the program.

The factory will be set up in Tibaani village [in Kakheti region] and more than 700,000 GEL will be invested in it,” Garibashvili said.

As of today the ‘Produce in Georgia’ program has financed the cost of building 124 new enterprises and renovating more than 600 businesses. Since the initiative launched in May 2014, the state has invested 340 million GEL in this direction.

Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili highlighted the importance of launching activities that supported tourism, as this sector brought money into the country.

The hotel component is very important as income from tourism equals $1.8 billion USD. As for the cinema industry project, which is being created together with Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, the Government wants to encourage the filming of international movies and TV series in our country. This would create additional job and help the country develop more professionals in this field,” Kumsishvili said.

The Economy Minister believed these two new areas in the program would help raise Georgia’s global awareness.

In July this year the Government launched the ‘Film in Georgia’ initiative to develop the local film industry, which operated under the ‘Produce in Georgia’ scheme. In November Bollywood cinema representatives visited Georgia and travelled around the country to different regions to explore new locations to film Bollywood films.