Page 58 - GEORptJun22

“Wine exports have increased by 360% compared to 2012. Georgia generated $250mn in 2021, while the revenue from wine exports was $71mn in 2012,” Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said at a governmental meeting.
Total export sales of alcoholic beverages reached $400mn in 2021, with the overall figure showing an 18% increase compared to 2020 and 142% more compared to the $163mn total in 2012.
In November, Georgia’s National Wine Agency reported that wine exports in the first 10 months of 2021 grew by 9% y/y.
9.1.10 TMT sector news
At Davos Georgian PM invites US tech company Ripple to set up service centre
EU may finance undersea fibre-optic cable to Georgia
At a meeting, Garibashvili promoted what he said were the favourable market conditions in Georgia for the development of digital assets and highlighted the country's "favourable investment environment and strategic location", the Georgian government said.
Georgia boasts young, experienced and competitive human capital, according to Garibashvili, and is evolving into a global and regional multifunctional hub for financial services as well as technical and innovative industries.
At the meeting, Garibashvili also noted his government has devised a draft legal framework for the regulation of virtual assets. The bill will be discussed with various stakeholders before its submission to parliament, with drafting expected to be finished by the year’s end.
Georgia has “successfully” used blockchain technology and has become the first country in the world to introduce it for use in public services, the PM also advised Ripple. That use is in the land registration process. Officials said its utilisation has resulted in an operating costs reduction of around one third. Garibashvili also mentioned Georgia’s ongoing talks with the FTX Crypto Derivatives company for the opening of a regional office in the country.
The European Union (EU) is considering financing the construction of a new fibre-optic cable in the Black Sea, said Lawrence Meredith, the European Commission's Director for Relations with the Eastern Neighborhood and Institution Building, who paid an official visit to Georgia in mid-October.
"Strengthening digital connections is being considered by laying fibre-optic cable on the seabed. At the same time, we want to support Georgia's regional digitalization and develop internet access in the regions,” Meredith said at a conference in Batumi, quoted by Business Media Georgia (BMG).
The Georgian government itself announced the laying of a new internet cable in the Black Sea in early 2021. At that time, Minister of Economy Natia Turnava said that Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) was considering the construction of a high voltage power transmission cable connecting Romania. Along with the same cable, the state-owned company is also studying the possibility of laying an internet cable. The World Bank's assists GSE in evaluating the project.
"The Black Sea submarine cable project, which is currently being studied, aims to connect the power systems of Georgia and Romania (in a broader sense - the regions of the South Caucasus and the Eastern Balkans) via the Black Sea. The technical survey, it should be a 500-kV HVDC cable, about 1,000 MW capacity," said GSE officials. The project also envisages the laying of a new internet cable at the bottom of the Black Sea.
Today, Georgia has access to the internet mainly through the internet cable on the bottom of the Black Sea. Caucasus Online is the owner and operator of the fibre-optic cable connecting Bulgaria-Georgia.
58 GEORGIA Country Report June 2022 www.intellinews.com