Georgian economy minister hails partnership at America-Georgia Business Council event

Levan Davitashvili, the minister of economy of Georgia, on Friday praised the “fruitful business and economic cooperation” between his country and the United States at an annual conference dedicated to 25 years of the America-Georgia Business Council, a non-profit corporation working to promote trade, business and government relations between the two countries. 

At the event hosted in Tbilisi, the Georgian official thanked the American side for its “strong support” over the past 30 years, which he said had been “evidenced by a number of  projects in various economic fields, including trade, tourism, transport, energy, agriculture, communications, innovation and more”.

Our ties have been upgraded to an all-time high. The US-Georgia partnership implies constantly deepening economic relations with dynamic trade turnover and investment stock", said the minister and noted raising the strategic partnership to a “qualitatively new level” was among the government’s “top priorities”. 

Reviewing the bilateral economic relations and the increase in trade turnover and investments, the official stressed US investments had brought “not only capital, but also knowledge and created jobs” in Georgia.

Addressing the event, US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said that the results of the collaboration and cooperation between American and Georgian businesses over the last decades, "resulting in real improvements in the quality of life for many Georgians". Photo: economy ministry press office. 

After briefing participants about the state programme designed to encourage foreign investment projects, Davitashvili also reviewed the current trends of the Georgian economy, international ratings and forecasts about the country. 

He stated the ratio of direct foreign investments to GDP was “one of the highest” among similar countries and “all states” given the industry’s BB category.

According to the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, Georgia will have the fastest economic growth in the medium term among regional and European countries. It will be driven by infrastructure spending, foreign direct investments and structural reforms to increase productivity”, he told the council.

“Despite complications between 2020-2021 [due to the coronavirus pandemic], Georgia has managed to maintain credit ratings at pre-pandemic levels”, said the minister, adding a “reliable policy framework” had helped the country’s “resilience to all [existing] shocks in the region”.