MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

"In order to maintain sustainable economic development and a high economic growth rate, the Government of Georgia is actively implementing the transformation of traditional sectors of the economy in the direction of innovation and technology development. In recent years, Georgia has achieved significant success in the development of an innovative ecosystem, the country has also become a kind of regional hub for international technological and IT companies – about 150 companies of this profile have opened offices in Georgia, where more than 10 000 local and foreign specialists are engaged. This, in turn, significantly changed the structure of our country's exports – in 2023, the export of IT services increased to 900 million dollars, which is an unprecedented figure for Georgia," –Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Irakli Nadareishvili said in his speech at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai, China.

The Forum was dedicated to the use of artificial intelligence in the process of industrialization. The Deputy Minister spoke about the policy of the Georgian government, which is aimed at the development of innovations and technologies in the country, including artificial intelligence. Nadareishvili gihlighted that Georgia is actively working to use the opportunities that the AI offers for the economic transformation of the country which will allow it to remain competitive in the rapidly developing digital world.

"The transformation of traditional sectors of the economy through artificial intelligence is a priority of our economic policy. However, we recognize that building a competitive AI ecosystem is a much more complex task than simply creating the right infrastructure and business-friendly tax legislation. Thus, we make a significant investment in IT education to prepare highly qualified specialists," – Irakli Nadareishvili said.

"In the past years, our goal was to create a developed innovative startup ecosystem - for this purpose, we established the Innovation and Technology Agency and launched nine technology parks across the country. This year, we started the implementation of the largest and most ambitious project - we are talking about the technology hub project in Kutaisi, which is to incorporate an interactive science and technology museum, a startup accelerator, an international IT school, various innovative laboratories and, most importantly, a powerful data center for the development of Georgian artificial intelligence. The hub will be the place to promote artificial intelligence in such sectors as health care, education, agro-sector, biotechnology, public services and finally, in business and economy," – the Deputy Minister noted.

It should be noted that the economic forum was held within the framework of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. Georgian delegation with participation of about 40 Georgian companies were represented at the Forum. Representatives of the private companies traveled to China with the support of the Enterprise Georgia Agency. Georgia is represented at the Expo with three different pavilions.