Georgia receives record Foreign Direct Investments in Q1 2016

Georgia enjoyed a record number of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2016, shows official preliminary statistics released today.

Data by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) revealed Georgia received $376 million from FDIs between January and March 2016. 

This was a 103 percent increase year-on-year (y/y) and a record since 2008. 

The three major sectors with highest share of FDIs: 

• Transport and communication sector: $200million (53 percent of all FDIs). This was a 53 percent increase y/y;
• Financial sector: $58million. In Q1 2015 this sector received $4 million from FDIs;
• Energy sector: $40million. 90 percent higher than in Q1 2015. 

The biggest shares of FDIs were from: 

• Azerbaijan: $137 million (36 percent of all FDIs); 
• Turkey: $57 million (15 percent of all FDIs);  
• United Kingdom: $44 million (12 percent of all FDIs). 

Geostat said the biggest portion of Azerbaijani investments went to projects carried out by British Petroleum in Georgia’s transport and communication sectors. 

  Georgia’s top eight FDI donor countries in Q1 2016: 

• Azerbaijan - $137 million;
• Turkey --$57 million;
• United Kingdom--$44 million;
• Korea -$32 million;
• Netherlands-$22 million; 
• Luxemburg-$11 million;  
• United States-$9 million;
• Cyprus- $7 million. 

Georgia also received $12 million from the British Virgin Islands and $16 million from other international organisations.