Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Monday highlighted last year’s “new record” in the country’s external trade, noting the figure had reached $6.1 billion, a 9.1 percent increase from 2021.
Davitashvili made the remark in comments on the latest data from the National Statistics office, saying imports had increased by 14 percent and amounted to $15.4 billion, while total trade turnover had increased by 12.5 percent and exceeded $21 billion.
He called the data “encouraging” despite “many difficulties and certain delays” in specific sectors, and said statistics related to international commerce indicated “good trends” were expected to continue this year.
The Minister also noted “significant economic activity” had led to the high trade turnover, adding the country managed to be an “important trading platform” under conditions of a “free economic environment” despite the “global context” in 2023.
Georgia is [...] a free, open platform for trade relations, which allows us to make progress in terms of foreign trade. [I]n the long term, we should be able to produce more local products that are competitive, and this will also help us in the direction of export”, he added.
In his comments, Vakhtang Tsintsadze, the Deputy Economy Minister, said “record-high” figures of foreign trade turnover had been recorded in the country over the past three years.
Tsintsadze said the country’s Government was “actively working to further develop and diversify” foreign trade relations by signing agreements on free trade with various countries.