Tbilisi Silk Road Forum: A snapshot of Georgia’s business environment

Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili has introduced the hundreds of international guests to Georgia’s positive business environment and favourable investment potential.

The country’s promising positions in international ratings were in focus of Kumsishvili’s speech today at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum.

Georgia takes 15th position amongst 189 countries in the ranking on Ease of Doing Business by the World Bank Group. What does it mean for investors? It means they can freely enter the Georgian market, easily register their company and open a bank account. It does not happen in every country and we are very successful in this and other directions,” Kumsishvili said.

The Economy Minister added investors were attracted by the conditions Georgia had created for improving its investment environment. He said trade agreements with Europe, with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Turkey had helped Georgia to create jobs and increase employment.

This is a market where Georgia should export its goods. We will do our best to demonstrate the investment attractiveness of our country and explain to investors how profitable it is to invest in Georgia,” Kumsishvili said.

Last year Georgia attracted an unprecedented high number of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). The first half of 2015 was also very fruitful in terms of FDI inflow into Georgia, he said.

In the first two quarters of 2015 Georgia attracted $530 million USD in FDIs and we expect this growing trend to continue.”

Tbilisi was expected to reap several benefits of hosting the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum. He noted the Forum was a place where international investors, the business community and others could come together and he expected new investment projects would be discussed and initiated within the event, benefitting not only Georgia but the wider region.