Page 25 - GEORptJun18

Gulf Cooperation Council
Bahrain, Georgian Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili told his Emirati counterpart, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansuri, during a bilateral visit to the UAE on April 10, according to agenda.ge.
The small South Caucasus country of only 3.7mn has been successful at promoting foreign trade and investment with multiple partners in recent years, having signed an association agreement with the EU, a free trade agreement with Turkey, and one with China. While trade with GCC countries remains low, the number of tourists from these countries coming to Georgia has been on the rise in recent years, thanks to Tbilisi's efforts in self-promotion and Georgia's combination of affordability, culture, nature, history, openness, and culinary delights.
"We talked about the increase in trade volume between the two countries, as well as the number of investments that come from the United Arab Emirates," Kumsishvili said after the meeting."As of today, this figure exceeds $800 million and we hope that investments will continue in the future. The number of visitors transported by air companies - Fly Dubai and Air Arabia - which brought more than 325,000 visitors to Georgia last year - is also of the utmost importance”, he added.
5.3 FDI
Georgia - FDI 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
FDI ($ mn)
845.1 1,130.3 1,022.9 1,020.6 1,817.9 1,652.5 1,602.9 1,861.9
FDI (% of GDP)
7.47 7.51 5.25 5.93 10.84 11.89 11.27 11.88
Source: Geostat, CEIC
FDI in Georgia recovers to pre-2008 level
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia increased by 16.2% y/y to $1.86bn in 2017, according to a report by national statistics agency Geostat published on March 12.
The FDI volume has contracted in recent years due to the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia and, more recently, to the depressed economic backdrop in the region and in the countries that invest the most in Georgia - Azerbaijan and Turkey. However, last year's result represents a recovery in FDI to pre-2008 levels.
Despite a 13.6% y/y contraction in its investments made in Georgia to $482.1mn, Azerbaijan remains the leading foreign investor in the country, a fact that has boosted bilateral cooperation and support between the two countries in other areas.
Turkey ($279mn), the UK ($250mn), the Netherlands ($224.3mn) and the Czech Republic ($133.8mn) completed the top five of the largest investors in Georgia last year. It is noteworthy that investments made through the Netherlands are frequently funds redirected from other sources that simply register their fiscal presence in that country.
In terms of the sectors that attracted the most FDI, transport and communications remained in the lead with 28.3% of total investment, though the absolute investment in this sector dropped by 22.2% y/y. Georgia is part of
25 GEORGIA Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com