Produce in Georgia Provides over $17 mln in Co-Financing in 2018

Produce in Georgia was born in early 2015, a creation of the Government of Georgia under then-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the Ministry of Economy (not yet “and Sustainable Development”). The program was designed to encourage new entrepreneurs and stimulate local production. It offers financial support, infrastructure accessibility support, and consulting services.

In its first year, Produce in Georgia funded more than 130 new businesses and revitalized more than 600. Now, nearly five years into the program, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has released new figures. “The Produce in Georgia program has so far supported 5,313 regional projects with a total investment value of 50 million GEL,” Bakhtadze noted at a Press Briefing held prior to last week’s Executive Government Meeting.

Bakhtadze said that the program has now spent 22,949,474 GEL ($8,603,363) on co-financing for nearly 8,500 beneficiaries. “Support for micro and small enterprises has been provided by the Government of Georgia since 2015 through Produce in Georgia. This program has been particularly vital in the regions. You may well be aware that one of the key priorities of our government is to ensure an equitable development of our regions, so that inclusive economic growth can be felt by each individual citizen,” said Bakhtadze.

917 new winners were announced for micro-grant financing in 2018 and they will receive a total of 8,300,000 GEL ($3,111,527) in co-financing by the end of the year.

“It is particularly gratifying for me that 45% of the winning applicants are female entrepreneurs,” proclaimed Bakhtadze, “Overall, if we review the performance in the current year, 6,230 projects have been financed, while co-financing has exceeded 47 million GEL ($17.6 mln).”

In February of this year, Dimitri Kumsishvili, who was then First Vice-Prime Minister and later served a brief term as Minister of Economy, said that as many as 16,000 jobs had been created within the framework of Produce in Georgia. He noted that government reforms supported their claims of prioritizing “freedom of business and promotion of local production, especially in the regions.” He called Produce in Georgia “one of the most successful state programs.”

On the program’s founding, Garibashvili announced that the Georgian Government had set a goal to gradually replace imported agricultural goods with locally produced alternatives. “I had conversations with the leaders of our neighboring countries who have successfully promoted local production and development programs. They have followed the path for years and have had good results. They have strong agricultural and industry sectors. Establishing such enterprises creates jobs for many Georgian people. This is one of the main tasks of our Government,” Garibashvili said in July 2015. He emphasized that, while his government welcomed imports and foreign companies as part of a robust economy, their priority was “the development of local industry and the creation of new jobs for our citizens.”

Through Produce in Georgia, if a company receives a bank loan of a certain amount, the government can finance part of the interest payment. On the issues of infrastructure support, if a company agrees to a certain investment obligation and it invests in a new building project, it can obtain state-owned immovable property for a symbolic cost of 1 GEL.

For more information on the program, visit: www.enterprisegeorgia.gov.ge/en/home

By Samantha Guthrie