Ambassador Beruchashvili on Georgia-UK Trade Relations 2018

Exclusive Interview

The UK maintains its high position among the top 10 largest investor countries in Georgia, which indicates that Georgia is an attractive destination for UK businesses. In 2017, the United Kingdom was third on the list with direct investments of $250 million.

UK-Georgia diplomatic relations date back to the time when Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon appointed brilliant diplomat and connoisseur of Georgia Sir Oliver Wardrop as the UK’s first Chief Commissioner to the Transcaucasus in 1919. Sir Oliver Wardrop played a very important role in convincing the UK to recognize Georgia's independence in 1920. He became actively engaged in mobilizing much needed support to deal with political and economic challenges. 2018 also marked very significant outcomes of Georgia-UK relations in all dimensions as well as a new beginning of Georgia’s future cooperation after Brexit.

GEORGIA TODAY sat down with H.E. Tamar Beruchashvili, the Ambassador of Georgia to the UK, for our annual catch-up on the latest on British-Georgia relations.

“Against a background of successful political relations, further strengthening and expanding of trade and economic relations is one of the main priorities of the strategic partnership between the two countries,” the Ambassador told us. “In 2017, for the first time, the UK Prime Minister appointed a Trade Envoy to Georgia, experienced politician Mark Pritchard MP. In 2018, on 4-5 June, Pritchard visited Georgia, accompanied by the first official business delegation of the UK Department of International Trade (DIT). The aim of this trade mission was to share its experience and knowledge with local businesses and to familiarize themselves with the business environment in Georgia. “This is yet another indication that both Georgian and the UK sides strongly intend to continue to intensify bilateral economic relations, dynamically increasing trade turnover and facilitating expanding of business ties between our countries,” she said.

In this regard, building new partnerships and promoting active cooperation between the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and respective counterparts in London, Edinburgh, Gibraltar and Wales is another priority, leading to the signing of memoranda of understanding between the parties.

For more than 20 years, Georgia has enjoyed an exemplary partnership with British Petroleum (BP), as it creates jobs and brings new technologies and know-how to Georgia. This partnership also has a wider regional impact, bringing Caspian oil and gas to Europe and contributing to the European energy security particularly through the Southern Corridor project. The Ambassador also spoke of Georgia’s financial presence in the UK.

“Georgia’s banking sector has been trading at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) since 2006. Currently, shares of four Georgian companies are included in the Premium Listing segment of the LSE, amongst them two leading Georgian banks TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia, both having deep sectoral knowledge, local expertise and a comprehensive range of products and services in Georgia,” she said. As a result, today, more than a half of the Georgian banking sector is presented at the LSE and, as the Ambassador noted, “[we] are expecting an increase in investments and a further strengthening of our financial institutions.”

Innovations and the development of new technologies is another priority sector, which has real potential for extending mutually-beneficial collaboration.

“Georgia as a start-up nation is eager to exploit the opportunities and share the experience that London is offering to innovations and start-up businesses,” she said. “The latest example is the successful participation of a large Georgian delegation, headed by the National Innovation and Technology Agency, in the well-acknowledged Start-up GRIND conference held on 12-14 June in London. Almost 20 Georgian start-ups had an opportunity to present themselves and directly engage with potential investors and British companies. The enhancing of sectoral cooperation with a particular focus on innovation was stressed during the last meeting of the Georgia-UK Wardrop Strategic Dialogue.”

“Our fruitful sectoral cooperation has a direct impact on people-to-people contacts and cultural exchange between our countries,” the Ambassador noted. And the figures speak for themselves: during the first 10 months of 2018, Georgia welcomed 26,347 visitors from the UK, a 33.3% increase compared to the same period of 2017. “The direct flights of Georgian Airways and Wizz Air opened in 2017 have greatly contributed to this end,” she said.

“In 2018 we also witnessed a record increase in the export of Georgian wine to the UK market, which has been marked by a 34% of increase (103,724 bottles) during the first 10 months of 2018. This would not have happened without the right strategy and our close cooperation with the National Wine Agency of Georgia, wine companies and highly regarded wine experts in the UK,” the Ambassador noted. “Particularly, this is a direct result of the active participation of the Georgian wine companies at international wine exhibitions in the UK and a record number of roadshows and wine tastings organized by well-known wine experts and writers Sarah Abbott MW and Robert Joseph, special partners of the National Wine Agency of Georgia.”

While Britain is going to build the new trade and commerce partnerships globally, Georgia is committed to being actively engaged in this process in due time.

“In view of the Brexit and common European and global challenges, we are concentrating our efforts to further deepening and widening our cooperation in all priority directions, bringing our countries and peoples closer,” Ambassador Beruchashvili noted.

By Katie Ruth Davies