On December 19, the Prime Minister of Georgia Vladimer Gurgenidze visited the Banking Training Center where a meeting with the representatives of the banking sphere was held. He expressed his satisfaction by the activities of the center (which is engaged in training of the personnel employed in the banking sector) and expressed the wish of spreading such practices in other sectors of economics, because the demand on qualified personnel is growing fast not only in the banking sector but in the spheres of tourism, agriculture, recycling production, construction and other spheres as well.
Banking sector is playing a significant role in the development of our country. 15 thousand highly paid jobs have already been created in the banking sphere where extremely qualified and professional personnel are involved in execution of their daily duties. Naturally, the importance of the banking sector is not limited to this, because all the loans allocated by the banks under reasonable and adequate conditions signify investments in our economics, which enhances creation of many more jobs. It's also important to emphasize, that the volume of the portfolio for the bank loans exceeds 4 billion GEL. "This is a very serious push to our economics and a valuable contribution of the banks to realizing the concept of "Georgia without poverty"; therefore, I am calling you to continue your work with the same enthusiasm and we, on our behalf, will not spare efforts to support your successful operation. We are well aware that maintaining overall stability is of paramount importance for the banks. While making prognosis, it is necessary to know about the fiscal and monetary policies which are currently in practice throughout the country; in this respect, I would like to assure you that the dialogue between the National Bank and the government of Georgia is on a very high level and this situation will continue forth", - the prime minister asserted.
It was also emphasized that one of the issues under discussion at today's meeting of the cabinet was the draft law on the budget of 2008. To Vladimer Gurgenidze's estimations, this is a budget already projected to people, which implies on a full scale all the elements of social policy which have been loudly articulated lately. At the same time, this is the budget compiled with a high sense of responsibility; it is also well balanced and will avail our country and its economics to take quick steps towards progress and further development. - "We have not issued any unreal or unreasonable promises; everything that has been loudly declared was well balanced, reasonable and based on realistic calculations. A large part of the new programs started already in December and the rest will be accomplished next year", Vladimer Gurgenidze stated.
As for the further prospects, which imply turning Georgia into a full-fledged financial center, the government is going to produce a complete package in spring and it will contain all the new laws as well as the amendments to be entered in the acting laws. "You, as the whole Georgian society will have the opportunity to follow this process during the upcoming years and see the progress of Georgia as a financial center. I am deeply convinced that most of you will be actively involved in this endeavor. If the process is managed correctly, given that stability and progress is maintained, it will be absolutely realistic that during the next 5-6 years (apart from the Georgian banking sector per se), we'll manage to attract additional capital of about 15-20 billion which is a huge resource indeed. As it is well known, the bank assets of our country amount to more than 4 billion dollars, yet I assume that this indicator will reach 14-15 billion by the year 2012. Under the conditions of forming and managing the financial center in a correct way we'll manage to receive twice more financial assets, which is a huge push forward to developing Georgia's economics", - the prime minister emphasized.
One of the most important moments is transformation and modernization of Georgia's stock market. The work on the legislative package has already been completed and before the end of the year it will be submitted to the parliament for endorsement. The government is planning to enter amendments in the banking law as well. The National Bank is intensively working on this issue and the discussions will be finalized in a few days.
The press center of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia