The Potential of Gulf Cooperation Council - Georgia Relations

Exclusive Interview

George Janjgava, Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, recently held a meeting with the Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council, H.E. Abdullatif Al-Zayani on September 12. During the meeting, the men discussed the bilateral relations between Georgia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. They paid specific attention to the economic relations between Georgia and the GCC countries and, interestingly, focus was placed on the tourism sphere and how this area has been a major facet in their economic relations and its further potential.

Intrigued by Ambassador Janjgava’s position and his meeting with H.E. Abdullatif Al-Zayani, I decided to find out more. As the ambassador resides in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, In a telephone conversation with GEORGIA TODAY last weekend, Janjgava gave a brief breakdown of his meeting with Al-Zayani, discussed the relations between Georgia and the GCC countries, the economic relations and tourism, the GCC-Georgia business forum, and news on the opening of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Georgia.

How long have you been the Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Since September 2014. However, the Embassy of Georgia officially opened in January 2015 here in Riyadh. My official title is Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Representative of Georgia to the Organization of the Islamic Corporation. In addition, I am the non-resident ambassador of my country to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, and the Republic of Yemen.

How did you come to acquire these positions?

I’ve been working in this field for a long time. I was Ambassador of Georgia to Egypt and Syria. Then, I was the Ambassador of Georgia to Iran and Pakistan. After, I worked for a short time in Ireland. Following that, I came here to Saudi Arabia as the Ambassador of Georgia.

During your meeting with the Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council, H.E. Abdullatif Al-Zayani, what did you all discuss?

We discussed several issues, but we focused on the economic relations between Georgia and the GCC countries.

What are the relations like between Georgia and the GCC countries?

Since I began working as the Ambassador of Georgia in Saudi Arabia in 2014/2015, relations, especially economically, have grown stronger and are stably moving forward. The GCC countries have strong relations with Georgia economically, and I would emphasize the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.In the last decade, it is estimated that Georgia has profited up to$1 billion from the UAE andup to one hundred million dollars from relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Tourism in particular has actually been among the most prominent factors in our economic relations with the GCC. After tourism, trade and investment are the strongest facets in the economic relations. We also need to mention the successful military cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Georgia.

How are you planning to further deepen the economic relations between Georgia and the GCC countries?

The economic relations have improved and strengthened over the past few years. Tourism has been one of the biggest and most important reasons for the growth of our economic relations.

But trade and investment are also significant between Georgia and the GCC countries. An interesting example in trade is that Saudi Arabia is the biggest buyer of Georgian sheep and has just become an importer of Georgian mineral water, while Bahrain and Kuwait have been buying meat from our country.

But even the increases in tourism can be linked to trade, as the tourists who come to Georgia like Georgian food, Georgian mineral water, even Georgian lemonade, and they buy these products. And then business people from Saudi Arabia, for example, become aware of these popular goods and come to buy them.

Further, people from the GCC countries are trying to invest in Georgia. More come from Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates and are buying properties and investing in agriculture and companies. And they choose to invest and do business here in Georgia because it can be simpler than in the GCC countries.

How have the economic relations between the GCC countries and Georgia been strengthened through tourism?

One fact that is very attractive is that maybe about three years ago, Georgia only had several hundred GCC country passport holders coming in. The statistics now are amazing. In 2017, 106,000 people holding GCC passports traveled to Georgia, the majority from Saudi Arabia. And in just the first seven months of 2018, 74,000 GCC passport holders came to Georgia. Again, the largest number of travels from the GCC countries were from Saudi Arabia. Why? Because Saudi Arabia is the largest country within the GCC countries.

When there is such a large number of tourists coming to a country, there comes a need for direct flights. Before, there was only one flight operating between Georgia and the GCC countries, and this was from Tbilisi to Dubai. Slowly, we also had flights to Doha, Qatar as well with Qatar Airlines, added. After that we had a charter flight from Tbilisi to Saudi Arabia with Georgian Airways. In 2017, we signed an agreement with Bahrain, and after that Gulf Air entered the Georgian markets. The same year Jazeera and Wataniya Airways from Kuwait began charter flights to the Georgian capital. And from the summer 2018, Oman, SalamAir, and Flynas started operating direct flights.

Another point we should also underline is the number of expatriates from other countries such as Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and so on, that hold GCC identification cards and are utilizing these direct flights to and from Tbilisi and the GCC countries. So, when we are speaking about tourism from these countries, we should realize that there are tens of thousands of expatriates coming to Georgia from the GCC countries. There are also a lot of Americans, Canadians, and English people living and working in the GCC that will often spend their weekends in Georgia. So, essentially, there is a large number of people traveling from the GCC and the number is larger than solely those holding GCC passports. Tourism has become very important and has grown significantly between Georgia and the GCC.

But again, its tourism combined with investment and trade that has been successful and is strengthening our economic relations.

Tell us about the GCC-Georgia Business Forum

The Federation of Chambers of the GCC Countries (headquarters located in Damman, Saudi Arabia) incorporation with Enterprise Georgia and the Georgian Chamber of Commerce, are planning to organize this business forum on the November 26 in Tbilisi, Georgia. I discussed the GCC-Georgia Business Forum with Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council, H.E. Abdullatif Al-Zayani when I spoke with him on September 12, and he also plans to attend the forum in November. The Federation of Chambers of GCC Countries will prepare a list of companies that will attend and are preparing questions for logistics for relations between the GCC countries and Georgia.

And are there plans to open an Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Georgia? When can that be expected?

Yes, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia will certainly open. The delegation came to Georgia a few months ago to look for properties in Tbilisi. I believe that they have chosen a temporary location, and it should open within the next couple of months.

Is there anything else of interest that you think I should note of Georgia and the GCC countries?

Yes, I didn’t mention that it is expected that in the fourth quarter of 2018, H.R.H. Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, who serves as the President of the Board with the rank of Minister of the Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage, plans to sign an important tourism agreement with the Ministry of Sustainable Economy in Georgia. The Prince will also plan to visit Georgia. H.R.H. Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud is very known person in Arab world, not only in the GCC. He is the first Arab astronaut to fly in space.

Also, in the near future, the Georgian Prime Minister plans to visit the GCC countries. Georgia and the GCC countries are continuing to strengthen their ties.

By Shirin Mahdavi