Georgia creates legal framework for Private-Public Partnerships

NBG noted the volume of money transfers from abroad constituted $91m Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge

Agenda.ge, 23 Dec 2015 - 12:06, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgia is taking active steps to attract more investments by offering better assistance to investors interested in being involved in large-scale projects in Georgia.

Yesterday Georgia presented a new Private-Public Partnership (PPP) policy document, which outlined better conditions for all parties involved in PPP projects.

A PPP is a Government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership between the Government and one or more private sector companies.

The document outlined the Government’s economic team will create the legal bases for the PPP policy within the first half of 2016.

Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili said the economic team started working on creating the PPP legislation about 18 months ago. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank were involved in the process.

Georgia presented a new PPP policy document, which outlined better conditions for all parties involved in PPP projects. Photo from Georgia's Economy Ministry.

These international financial institutions stressed the importance of creating PPP in Georgia. The experts believed Georgia had a bright future with endless possibilities ahead for infrastructure development but the cost of such projects could hinder development, which was why PPPs were so essential to development.

Georgia’s Economy Minister also believed PPPs were another step forward in developing the country.

This is a new step for attracting more investments and to make investors feel more comfortable in our country. We have finished a great part of our privatisation goals and now it is necessary to attract additional investments to create this legislation,” said Kumsishvili.

Through cooperation between Georgia’s Economy Ministry and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Bank provided technical assistance for developing the regulatory legal framework for PPPs in Georgia.

The project started in July 2015 and will be completed by April 2016.