2015-05-14
"Georgia is an advanced country in terms of transparency and open governance; therefore, it is one of the best places for doing business and investing," - said the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili in his speech, addressed to the participants of EBRD Executive Board opening session.
The Prime Minister noted that the government appreciates the cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. As a result, last year the bank's investments in the economy almost doubled and exceeded 200 million Euros.
"Georgia went through a long way towards the market economy and democracy, also, to establish and strengthen the principles of rule of law - the very core values important for the EU and EBRD", said the Prime Minister referring to signing the EU Association Agreement, which is another important step towards the European integration.
In his speech, the Prime Minister mentioned the difficult geopolitical situation that had adversely affected the country's economic development, but noted that Georgia has maintained the economic growth and improved the business environment in terms of the property rights' protection as well as tax burden relief and optimization of Tax Legislation.
"Georgia is a country with one of the simplest tax systems and low tax rates. We have a total of six types of fees; We do not have the Social Tax; We have eliminated nearly 85 percent of import tax on goods, keeping the rest with 5 or 12-percent rate; We have a very simple tax and customs procedures, and so on", said the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister also cited various famous international ratings, in which Georgia enjoys leading positions:
- According to the World Bank's "Doing Business Ranking", Georgia holds the 15th place in Europe and the 8th place in the region of Central Asia;
- According to the "Lack of Corruption Ranking" of the TRACE Matrix Index, Georgia is ranked as the 11th among the 197 countries, being ahead of such countries as Norway, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the UK and Austria.
- The "Open Governance Index" of 2015 shows that Georgia is ranked as the 29th country in the world, being a leader in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
- According to the Freedom Heritage Foundation's rating, Georgia is the 22th in the world with its "Index of Economic Freedom";
The Prime Minister in his speech said that the investors of Georgia will be offered the following: legal security; quality, transparent and predictable laws; healthy rehabilitation procedures; credible judicial and notary system, fast and efficient execution the court judgments; accessibility of public data and information transparency, and affordable, rapid and transparent public service.
"Reasonable, minimal and precise regulation have turned the country into a commercial hub. According to the preliminary calculations, the FDI in Georgia was one billion 272 million dollars, in 2014, which is 35% higher than the previous year's figure of 2013. Georgia is becoming more and more important due to its geopolitical location as an energy and transit hub between the Central Asia and Europe. We believe that geographical location should not be used only for transit. Georgia has the resources to be a regional hub. Here is the proper environment for the deployment of international companies and regional financial centers," said Irakli Garibashvili.
The Prime Minister spoke about Georgia's high potential in hydropower, as well as investment opportunities in the manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors.
According to the Prime Minister, a strong partnership with the EBRD is critical to Georgia's economic development.
Irakli Garibashvili repeatedly expressed his gratitude to the EBRD representatives for supporting Georgia and noted that currently, the bank with its 2 billion 600 million Euros investment is financing more than 170 projects, of which 83% are in the private sector.
The Prime Minister named several large projects, recently implemented through the co-financing of EBRD. The bank share is:
- Shuakhevi HPP development, construction and operation project - 86.5 million dollars. The project will be carried out by the Company TATA Power, the affiliate of giant TATA Group;
- The projects of Wissol Petroleum Georgia - $ 65 million;
- Cross-Khorga Transmission Lines' construction project - 47 million Euros;
- Redix Hotel construction and operation project - more than $18 million.
The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of innovative project of issuing the bank securities denominated in GEL. Irakli Garibashvili said that, all this may allow the financial institutions to issue the loans in GEL, which contributes to the development of economy and capital markets.
Before the opening session of EBRD Management Board, the Georgian Prime Minister, the EBRD President, the Management Board Chairman and the Secretary General took memorable photos together.
Prime Minister's Press Office