Canadian and Korean Delegations Talk Investment Potential in Georgia
Two foreign delegations visited Georgia separately to meet with high officials last week, with the investment potential of the country the hot topic. Canadian and Korean authorities appreciated the progress of Georgia and recognized the favorable field for investment and tourism potential in the region.
Investors from Westwood International Advisors, a privately-owned investment management firm, visited Georgia at the beginning of the week and found satisfaction with the current business climate in Georgia, especially with the focus on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and on the on-going work to create a transparent investment environment.
“We came to Georgia to understand and learn about what drives and motivates the people of Georgia to progress,” said Patricia Perez-Coutts, Senior Vice President of Westwood International Advisors. “The peacefulness of this environment is absolutely remarkable and we will certainly encourage everyone to travel here and to understand what Georgia is all about. We look forward to returning here and seeing the progress made to open up the capital markets; the progress made towards the pension fund reform, as well as the progress for SMEs.”
Later in the week, the delegation of Korea's National Assembly also visited Georgia and highlighted the importance of deepening relations between the two countries. The Chairman of the Assembly, Chung Ui-hwa, said Georgia could attract the attention of the whole world and become an exemplary country for reform, democracy and business. He also expressed the desire to share Korea’s experience with Georgia.
“Korea is a very important global player in many areas, and we are pleased that the relations between our countries become deeper and deeper. We have achieved industrial development in the shortest period of time thanks to assistance from other countries. Now we will try to share this assistance with others,” said Ui-hwa.
Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, thanked the delegation estimation and welcomed Korean investments. He highlighted a 1 billion USD investment which Korea recently launched in Georgia’s energy sector whereby its national water company ‘K Water’ is to build the Nenskra Hydro-Electric Power Plant in the Upper Svaneti region in western Georgia.
Foreign trade turnover between Georgia and the Republic of Korea amounted to more than 13.8 million USD for the first quarter of 2016. During 2015, imports amounted to about 50.5 million USD. Georgia exported to the Republic of Korea production of 600 thousand USD in the first three months of this year, and about 3.5 million USD for the entire year last year.
Eka Karsaulidze