Lord Mayor of London: “Georgia is the most business-friendly country in the region”

The Lord Mayor of London, Andrew Parmley, says Georgia has the best business environment in the region and the UK is ready to enhance trade-economic ties with the country.

The mayor stated this in front of representatives of the British business community today, attending a round table at the Mansion House, UK.

The meeting was devoted to Georgia’s economic development and investment.

The meeting was held within the Georgia-UK Wardrop dialogue which opened yesterday.

According to the Lord Mayor of London, one of his priorities is to promote co-operation with rapidly developing economies.

Georgia's Foreign Minister met London's Lord Mayor within the Wardrop Dialogue.Photo by Foreign Ministry press office.

Trade-economic cooperation with Georgia was also in focus for the UK Minister of State for Europe and the Americas Sir Alan Duncan when he spoke at the opening of the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue yesterday.

Duncan said that economic cooperation is an integral part the Georgia-UK bilateral relations.

I want this to be done swiftly and successfully and I’d like this to be ambitious. I am glad that Foreign Office officials were recently in Tbilisi to discuss details of our future economic relations. That dialogue will intensify in the coming months”, he said.

The Wardrop Baton represents the historical significance of our relations with Georgia and I'm honoured to hand back to @JanelidzeMkh today pic.twitter.com/UmoCG9qBBF

— Sir Alan Duncan MP (@AlanDuncanMP) 23 October 2017

Duncan stressed that British investors’ interest in Georgia keeps rising, to which attests the appointment of the UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Georgia and an upcoming business forum within the framework of the Wardrop Dialogue.

According to Duncan, links between the two nations are expanding, helped by the reintroduction of direct flights.

More of our citizens than ever before are travelling in both directions for tourism, study and business. As governments we can help these connections to develop even further including in the areas such as vocational and technical education and creative industries. We will ensure that Georgian citizens find the process of obtaining a visa to visit Britain as easy as possible”, he said.

Mark Pritchard, UK’s Special Representative for trade in Georgia, says that Georgia and the UK have "huge potential to boost trade and investments.” 

He stated the UK government was interested in investing for infrastructure, education, environment, retailing, banking field and pension services.