An interview with Head of the National  Investment Agency of Georgia Giorgi Pertaia

In a recent television appearances Prime Minister said that the government's priority is economic growth , development, and investment boom . What gives him grounds for such expectations? Are there real reasons for the growth of investment, and if so, from what countries are they expected?

 
This is not just Prime Minister’s statement, it has the real ground, and the business climate in Georgia is already close to becoming very attractive. It now has a lot of positive sides, but we had problems with a political stability  which prevented the inflow of investments . The problems were with the inviolability of private property, the dependence of the judicial system , etc. Expectations are the most important  in terms of investment.

Now the business is very optimistic - there is no fear that tomorrow a war with Russia can start that  frightened businessmen.

As for the other questions, Prime Minister’s meetings during the Davos Forum were very important. In the course of them a great interest was expressed in the Georgia’s  business climate and this is the best indication that if all goes as it is now, the inflow of investments into the country will  begin  in the near future.

 
All potential investors with whom we met in Davos  asked us about the situation in the country, and which segments of the economy are the most attractive for investing. This gives us a reason to believe that in the near future the inflow of investment will increase. Although it's unclear whether they will fall in statistics in 2014 .

Can you name at least ballpark figures?

 
I cannot name the exact figures, but it is clear that we are talking about more than $ 1 billion.

 
When the power changed, there was constant talk about the increased interest of Georgian businessmen working in Russia in Georgia as well as  the  Russian businessmen. What will be the year 2014 in this respect?

As for Russian companies, we are negotiating with several companies that consider investing capital in tourism and energy. While it is difficult to say what will be the amount of investment, as in the last 9 years very negative information about Georgia was spread in Russia, and today it is difficult to regain investor sentiment in a positive way.

 
However, now the Russian businessmen are eyeing Georgia and the share of Russian investments will grow.

 
The Government has developed a strategy until 2020  which refers to the promotion of investments  saying that  the current investment legislation is outdated and does not meet the current realities. Will there be any changes in this direction?

 

In respect of investments there are several laws that really outdated, and the Prime Minister gave specific instructions to start working on making the necessary changes in legislation.

Source: commersant.ge