MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

“Our policy is focused on economic growth. After the pandemic, we averaged economic growth of around 9,7%, which is more than double the average economic growth of EU candidate countries. This indicator is one of the highest in the wider region, and all of this needs to be maintained. Especially at a time when international processes are quite unpredictable, and Georgia is closely linked to international economic processes,” –  the First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Levan Davitashvili, stated at an economic forum where Georgia’s investment policy and new opportunities were discussed.

As the First Vice Prime Minister stated, Georgia attracted more than 5 billion USD in a form of foreign direct investment in 2022-2024. According to Davitashvili’s information, the volume of foreign direct investment is approximately 6% of the gross domestic product, which is one of the highest indicators among countries with similar economies to Georgia worldwide. Speaking about investments, the Minister of Economy emphasized the entry of one of the largest developers from the United Arab Emirates, Emaar Properties/Eagle Hills, into Georgia, which will further increase the country’s international recognition and will be an encouraging message for other investors as well.

“Georgia’s business climate and environment are clearly reflected in international rankings - in the OECD’s FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index, Georgia ranks 8th in terms of governance, and in the World Bank’s Business Ready pilot ranking, Georgia took third place after Singapore and Estonia,” – the First Vice Prime Minister noted.

Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development highlighted that the investors’ interest has also increased in the “Middle Corridor,” as its advantage over other routes is becoming apparent. In his assessment, this trend may continue in the future, when the situation in the region, sooner or later, changes. Therefore, the government’s task is to encourage infrastructure investments that will improve the infrastructure of the Middle Corridor and increase Georgia’s role as a transit, transport connecting hub. According to the Minister, it is not only about cargo flows, but energy carriers, including electricity and digital flows, which are also important.

“Everything - electricity, cargo flows, and digital flows - has one nature, and everywhere we have one task - to facilitate the development of relevant hubs so that the flows passing through Georgia increase and additional value is created in the economy from these services. It should be emphasized that the export of transport services is one of the most important and fastest-growing directions of our economy,” – Levan Davitashvili said.

Speaking about the important projects for the country, the Minister of Economy placed particular emphasis on the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project, which is developing at a very rapid pace.

“I think we made the right decision not to wait for investors and for the state to create critical infrastructure. We are consistently developing the port - as a result of creating this infrastructure, we will have much more favorable conditions to talk to partners. There can be many different types of professional partners, companies that will develop a complex ecosystem around the Port of Anaklia together with us. Once we have competitive, high-quality modern infrastructure, we will become more competitive compared to other alternatives, and in the long term, we will be able to secure these cargo flows in our corridor,” Levan Davitashvili noted.

According to the Minister, despite the initial target date of 2028 for the arrival of the first ships at the port, it is possible that the Port of Anaklia will be able to receive ships by the end of 2027.

Representatives of the legislative and executive branches of government, heads, owners, and partners of individual companies in the sector, as well as representatives of the academic and analytical sectors, participated in the 18th discussion of the economic forum “Country’s Investment Policy / New Opportunities.” The event was moderated by Giorgi Abashishvili, the founder and head of the Georgian Economic Forum and Business Insider Georgia.