Georgia begins free trade talks with India

Georgia is taking action to establish a free trade agreement with India to access its markets and facilitate increased bilateral business and trade.

A delegation led by Georgia’s Minister of Economy Giorgi Gakharia is now in Delhi, India, to discuss free trade opportunities with local authorities.

The main purpose of the meeting is to sign a memorandum on launching the free trade feasibility study, which will be signed later today.

If the free trade deal is reached Georgian entrepreneurs will have access to India’s market that boasts a total of 1.3 billion consumers.

So far Georgia has free trade deals with Turkey, European Union (EU), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - and with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Soon Georgia will sign a free trade deal with China and Hong Kong.

While in India Georgia’s Economy Minister also met with Indian Minister of State for Culture and Tourism where the officials discussed the possibility of opening an Indian embassy in Georgia, launching direct flights between the two countries and deepening cultural ties.