Georgian PM unveils plan for “balanced” regional development, environmental protection, tourism growth

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party's election staff and the Prime Minister of Georgia, on Monday announced a comprehensive plan for a “balanced” development of regions, enhance environmental protection and stimulate growth of the tourism industry, while presenting the party’s election programme ahead of the October 26 parliamentary vote.

Kobakhidze said over ₾2 billion ($730mln) would be allocated for the development of regions through the Municipal Development Fund while a special programme focused on infrastructure development in settlements across the occupation line separating the Russian-occupied regions from the rest of the country would receive an annual allocation of ₾20 million ($7.29mln).

Under the rural support programme, a minimum of ₾400 million ($145.73mln) will be allocated over the next four years. At least ₾155 million ($56.47mln) will be allocated under the Mountain Fund [...] It is crucial to ensure that the benefits are evenly distributed across the country, reaching different regions. Investments will continue to be made in this regard”, Kobakhidze said.

In environmental initiatives, the Government aims to implement modern early warning systems over the next four years and increase the area of protected areas in the country by an additional 100,000 hectares, the Prime Minister said.

Also, 15,000 hectares of forest will be restored and planted. In the last four years, we have increased the pace of reforestation by about five times compared to the previous government. It is not even worth comparing; the amount of forests restored and planted by them was so insignificant in our country”, he said.

Kobakhidze also highlighted reduction in air pollution in major cities such as the capital city of Tbilisi and Rustavi, saying air pollution had decreased by 25 percent and 35 percent respectively over the past few years.

The Prime Minister said ₾200 million ($72.87mln) would be allocated for the municipal transport programme over the next four years.

This funding will be used to improve the transport infrastructure and services in municipalities and regions [...] The combined budget for all 68 municipalities totalled around ₾1.3 billion ($470mln) in 2012, mainly allocated for administrative expenses. However, the budget for 2024 in the regions alone has already reached ₾3.34 billion ($1.22bln), with a projected figure of ₾4.59 billion ($1.67bln) for 2028”, he said.

As for Tbilisi, the budget of the capital city was only ₾657 million ($239.36mln) in 2012. The budget has already exceeded ₾2 billion ($730mln) in 2024, and the forecast for 2028 is ₾2.25 billion ($820mln). This amount does not include projects financed from the central budget. Tbilisi City Hall has significant plans for expanding the metropolitan network, rehabilitating avenues, and more. Additional resources beyond the ₾2.25 billion will be allocated from the central budget for these projects”, Kobakhidze added.

The Prime Minister also said the budget of the western city of Kutaisi had been ₾62 million ($22.59mln) in 2012, before increasing to ₾195 million ($71.04mln) the following year. Government projections by 2028 put it at ₾225 million ($81.97mln), he added.

Budget for the central-eastern city of Rustavi had been ₾49 million ($17.85mln) in 2012, he said, adding the figure was expected to rise to ₾180 million ($65.58mln) by 2025 and reach ₾210 million ($76.51mln) by 2028. The Black Sea port city of Poti had a budget of ₾31 million ($11.29mln) in 2012, the PM noted, before adding the number was anticipated to surpass ₾100 million ($36.43mln) next year and reach about ₾115 million ($41.90mln) by 2028.

In public services, the Government head contrasted the number of 12 Public Service Halls across the country with the opening of 109 more venues since the year, with plans to open 12 more between 2024-2025 to complete the project of their expansion.

This will ensure that [Public Service Halls] are available throughout the country, and all municipalities have the necessary infrastructure. Additionally, the Mobile [Public Service Hall] project has been implemented to provide relevant services to even remote villages. The number of services offered in the [venues] has also doubled, which is crucial for our citizens”, Kobakhidze said.

He also emphasised the importance of the initiative of systematic registration of land, calling it a “crucial” project and thanking the Ministry of Justice and Minister Rati Bregadze for initiating and implementing it.

Over the recent years, one and a half billion plots of land have been surveyed under this project, and one billion plots have already been registered. Additional funding will be allocated in the coming years to register 500,000 plots to their respective owners”, Kobakhidze said.

Addressing the tourism sector, the Prime Minister said the country would attract eight million visitors this year and increase the number to 11 million by 2028.

Tourism is an important sector for our country’s economy, and we take pride in being known for our hospitality. The development of tourism not only has an economic impact, but also a cultural significance for us. We can be proud of the significant growth we have achieved in this area”, Kobakhidze said.

We had 4.7 million visitors in the country in 2012. This figure is expected to reach almost eight million by 2024. The number of visitors is projected to increase to 11 million by 2028. This shows a very positive growth trend in the number of visitors”, he added.

He noted income from tourism was projected to increase from $1.4 billion in 2012 to $6.4 billion by 2028, calling it an “impressive” result.

Of course, these incomes will ultimately affect incomes and social status of our population”, Kobakhidze added.

The Prime Minister further presented “impressive data” regarding accommodation facilities, including hotels and guest houses.

There were 777 hotels in our country with 23,000 places in 2012. The number of hotels is projected to increase to 2,363 with 108,000 places by 2024. This represents a 4.5-fold increase in the number of places in the hotel sector. The number of hotels is expected to reach 2,680 with 142,700 places by 2028, which is nearly six times the number in 2012”, he said.

Kobakhidze revealed plans to support the growth of the industry through private investments of about ₾1 billion ($360mln) in the hotel sector, as well as allocating over ₾1 billion for the development of tourist infrastructure, including urban renewal projects.