The world’s largest cement manufacturer has invested $10 million USD to construct a top of the line cement plant in Georgia’s Black Sea port city, Poti.

French-based company LAFARGE will lead the project with help from local company Leader Cement.

A ceremony to mark the launch of the plant’s construction was held at the Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel in Tbilisi.

Guests were welcomed by Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who said the new cement facility would be one of the highlighted examples of economic development in the country.

"The world leader company’s investment in the country proves that Georgia is becoming more and more attractive to international investors and we offer them the a friendly and healthy business environment,” Garibashvili said.

The Prime Minister believed the development of Georgia’s cement industry would help support and ensure the quality improvement of construction materials, which was paramount for the upcoming development projects planned by the Government.

Garibashvili also believed the cement produced in Poti could help reduce the amount of imported cement as imported materials would be replaced by locally made cement.

"Construction companies will have the opportunity to use high quality locally produced cement,” he said.

The factory will begin full operations early next year. The facility is being built on a 40,000 square metre area in Poti.

The new cement plant will have the capability to produce 250, 000 tonnes of cement per year.

Forty employees were currently working on the construction of the plant. After the facility is commissioned, 50 local employees will be employed.

Meanwhile officials representing French company LAFARGE, including its executive director Bruno Lafont, discussed opening the cement factory in Georgia with Prime Minister Gasribashvili at the Davos Economic Forum earlier this year.

During the meeting, the Georgian leader expressed his full support to the project.

The LAFATGE headquarters is in Paris and the company is represented in 64 countries.

Source:agenda.ge