On June 18, 2012 was held the meeting of the Georgian Government. The agenda included 48 items.
Before the meeting started, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nika Gilauri, talked about growth of macroeconomic activities and Gross Domestic Product in the country.
We present the Prime Minister's speech.
"Before the government meeting starts, I would like to give the Ministers and the public a piece of information about macroeconomic activities of the first quarter. National Statistics Office has made the first summary of data of external trade as well as direct foreign investments, and these data will probably be interesting for the public, especially, for businessmen.
As for external trade, according to the first five months data, external trade index has been increased by 19-20% in January-May. Export has increased by 12-13% and import - by 21-22%, which is not a bad index. We had one of the highest indexes with a view to export, in May of the current year, i.e. export is growing at a lower rate, than it was groining during the last year, but growing rate still remains high.
As for direct investments, the first quarter of the current year was one of the most successful quarters, with a view to direct foreign investments during the last years. In the first quarter, 270 million dollars has flown into the country in the form of direct foreign investments. This is also important that one of the main investors was Germany. If we make analysis in geographical section, one of the main investors in this period was Germany and German companies made investments in Georgia. If we compare this to the analogical period of the last year, index of direct foreign investments is grown by 60-65%, which is also very important and we can say that the abovementioned investments are made in jobs, in order to reduce unemployment index in Georgia, which is our main purpose during the current and the nearest years.
In the end, I would like to give the public a piece of information about growth of Gross Domestic Product. During the last few months, National Statistics Office of Georgia worked intensively with respect to improvement of the base. If a part of unobservable economy amounted to 20-22%, now this index has been reduced up to 13-14%. Respectively, we possess much more correct information about our daily economic condition in Georgia. According to our today's data, we will finish the first quarter with 6.8% growth, which is one of the highest indexes in our region and, we can say, in the world, considering the fact that the world economy is not in a very good condition and quite many countries have serious economic problems."
Prime Minister's Press Service