Helping Businesses in Post-Pandemic Georgia: The Initiatives of Hualing FIZ
Interview
Four years on since its establishment, the Hualing Free Industrial Zone has gradually become a special place for investors from different countries.
It offers numerous cost-effective solutions and operational benefits to companies registered in Hualing FIZ. Its customers enjoy these benefits right from the start of their business activities in the Zone, and its creators aspire for it to become a prime destination for a broad range of manufacturers and traders across the Eurasian continent.
GEORGIA TODAY spoke to the Executive Director of Hualing Free Industrial Zone, Soso Nibladze, to find out more.
“Our innovative approach to business and our capacity to understand and meet the varying needs of investors and entrepreneurs in a rapidly changing environment have established the competitive advantage of Hualing Free Industrial Zone in the marketplace,” he tells us. “Hualing’s business model is grounded in one simple guiding principle: our aim is to create values that make a better future for our customers. In practice, this means maximizing company resources to serve our customers in the most productive, efficient way. This principle drives every major decision we make at Hualing FIZ.”
How has Hualing FIZ been helping local businesses to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic?
As soon as the Georgian government announced its initiative to stimulate local production following the breakout of the COVID 19 pandemic, we quickly came forward to back the initiative and took steps to support entrepreneurial start-ups in the country.
As the spread of the pandemic has started to slow down, leading to the lifting of many lockdown measures, we are making our infrastructure, buildings, facilities, and communications available to all interested entrepreneurs on the most favorable and competitive terms. Hualing FIZ is the only free industrial zone in Georgia to offer a wide variety of warehousing facilities, an important benefit that enables businesses to start their operations in the FIZ promptly and with minimal capital investments.
Hualing FIZ treats every client individually, carefully assessing the needs of each customer and offering partnership terms informed by the specific and detailed requirements of their business models. We truly believe that our approach will make a sizeable contribution to stimulating local production in the shortest period of time possible.
What are the specific benefits your customers can expect to get if they decide to partner with you?
The benefits cover the building rental rates, moratoriums on leases, access to communications, needs-based consultations on the production process, and more.
How many companies currently run operations in the FIZ?
Over the last four years, Hualing FIZ has worked with dozens of companies that successfully continue their operations on the international and regional markets. There are 13 factories in the FIZ already functioning or being set up. They cover wood processing, furniture manufacturing, stone processing, building materials, ferroalloys, pharmaceuticals, solar panel modules, ethanol, textile, plastics, end-user product trade, and more. By 2020, the total portfolio of investments in Hualing FIZ has exceeded $70 million.
What are your plans for the future?
Hualing FIZ will continue to support innovative high-tech projects, focusing on labor-intensive industries. To further improve our services, we plan to expand the Free Zone and add more facilities and better infrastructure to match the needs of a broader range of customers. Hualing FIZ became an honorary member of the World Free Zones Organization, the Global Free Zone family, that affirms our commitment to providing top-notch services to all our clients.
By Elene Dzebisashvili