Page 23 - GEORptJun18

Belarus’ vows to double bilateral trade with Georgia to $200mn
Development, aims to boost agricultural production and give local farmers in the Imereti region in northwestern Georgia access to greenhouses and technology in order to produce goods that meet EU standards. Furthermore, two logistics complexes will be built near the airport of Kopitnari in Imereti and in Rustavi, eastern Georgia, as part of the project. Georgia's main exports comprise of mineral commodities and automotive re-exports. The country imports foodstuffs from Turkey, with which Georgian small-scale producers struggle to compete.
Tbilisi has been making efforts to promote regional development and employment creation, seeing how job opportunities outside Tbilisi and the seaside resort belt are scarce and many Georgians struggle with under- and unemployment. The fact that Georgians struggle to make ends meet at home has prompted a deluge of Georgian asylum seekers to the EU in recent months.
Meanwhile, Belarus and Georgia intend to double bilateral trade to $200mn in 2018, from $93.5mn in 2017, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during a press conference in Georgia, where he travelled to meet with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili and to lead a business delegation. Belarus' main exports to Georgia are railcars, trucks, furniture, medicine and food products, while Georgia's main exports to Belarus are mineral water, wine and spirits, nuts and re-exports of petroleum products.
5.1.2 Current account dynamics
Georgia’s current account deficit at 12.9% in Q4 2017
Georgia's current account deficit accounted for 12.9% of the country’s nominal GDP in December 2017, down from 17.3% a year earlier but up from 3.1% in the previous quarter, CEIC data reported. In nominal terms, the deficit contracted by 19.9% y/y to $524.9mn.
The small country's economy is reliant on imports of oil and gas and added-value goods like machinery, therefore a high trade deficit financed partly through borrowing and investments continues to be a problem for Tbilisi, even as its economy has flourished. The main contributor to the decline in the deficit was services, largely thanks to tourism revenue growth.
5.1.3 Capital flows
Remittances to Georgia up 16.3% y/y in December
Remittances to Georgia increased by 16.3% y/y to $138.4mn in December, the country's central bank said in a report on January 15. The sums are an important source of revenue for many Georgians who are underemployed or unemployed and rely on transfers from relatives working abroad. Georgia's official unemployment rate has hovered around 12% for years, but observers believe that as much as half of the workforce is underemployed and engaged in either subsistence agriculture or small business ownership. Rises in remittances normally reflect in consumption statistics.
In 2015 and early 2016, remittances dropped as a result of a depreciation of the Russian ruble and Turkish lira and the economic slowdown in Russia and Turkey, two of the largest sources of remittances. Russia accounted for a third of total remittances sent, followed distantly by the US, Italy, Greece, Israel and Turkey.
23 GEORGIA Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com