Georgia takes action to strengthen its investment attractiveness

Georgia is taking measures to make less developed areas of the country attractive for investors, and to do this the Government is offering incentives for investors.

Offering incentives to investors, especially in the areas that are less developed in Georgia, would encourage them further to invest their capital and create jobs,” said Nino Javakhadze, head of economic development division at the Economic Council.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and economic team members discussed ways to strengthen the country’s investment attractiveness at yesterday’s Economic Council meeting. The decision to improve Georgia’s investment environment came from the Economic Council and relevant state agencies.

Now we will continue working on the project together with donor organisations. We will listen to their position and introduce the final version to the audience,” said Javakhadze.

Meanwhile, adjusted figures released in August by the National Statistics Office of Georgia, Geostat, revealed $1.758 billion USD came into Georgia through Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in 2014, which was an 87 percent increase on 2013 figures.

The Geostat data showed a growing trend in FDIs from 2009 to 2011 before offshore investments decreased in 2012 and 2013. But by 2014 FDIs jumped significantly from $942 million in 2013 to $1.758 billion in 2014.

The total sum of inflow to Georgia between 2009 and 2014 amounted to $2.873 million while outflow reached $1.139 billion, noted Geostat.

The majority of FDIs by major investor countries came from the Netherlands (21 percent) followed by Azerbaijan (19 percent) and China (12 percent).

The largest proportion of FDIs was allocated to Georgia’s transports and communication sector, reaching $433.7 million. Following this was the construction sector with $316.6 million and the manufacturing sector with $205.4 million.