Page 22 - GEORptMay18

5.2 FTA
Georgia on charm offensive in UAE in pursuit of FTA with Gulf Cooperation Council
Georgia’s FTA with Switzerland to come into force in May
Georgia is seeking to establish a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the six-country economic bloc encompassing Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and 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.
The free trade agreement between Georgia and Switzerland will enter into force in May, the Swiss government announced on March 28. Concurrent with its association agreement with the EU, Georgia in 2016 signed a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries - Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. For the first two countries, the agreement took effect in September 2017. In Switzerland's case, the Federal Assembly only approved the agreement in September last year and the Federal Council adopted the amendments in the ordinance regarding customs duty concessions on March 28.
22 GEORGIA Country Report May 2018 www.intellinews.com