Foreign direct investments hit “record high” of $2 bln - PM

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said foreign direct investments in the country had hit a “record high” of $2 billion in his annual report on Government’s work to the Parliament.

Garibashvili told MPs the world’s “largest and multi-billion-dollar corporations have already shown interest in our country’s potential thanks to [the Government’s] innovative approaches to attracting investments”.

He also said export and tourism revenue growth had reached “historic levels”, with travel-related revenue exceeding the 2019 level by 107.6 percent and amounting to $3.5 billion, a figure that also showed a 182.5 percent increase compared to 2021.

The Government head told lawmakers this year's tourism industry revenue was expected to “set records” in addition to returning to pre-pandemic levels, as seen by the 1.2 million foreign tourists welcomed to the country in the first quarter.

He called the number a “significant increase” over 2019, and added revenue in the first quarter had set a “record level” of about $800 million - up by around 38 percent from the same period in 2019.

The PM also added his Government had a “realistic expectation” of the country hosting more than six million foreign visitors by the end of the year.