The government of Georgia, more precisely the Ministry of Economy, has no position regarding  the expected level of investment - and this is not the first time the Ministry  cannot give a concrete answer to the question - in particular, the 2013 forecast was $ 1 billion  but it was not explained  what  this amount was based on.

According to the findings of the World Bank, in 2014 foreign direct investments in Georgia will be  6. 3% of GDP, respectively , the forecast is 1,1 billion USD. However, many experts consider it doubtful and explain this by the suspension of privatization and passivity of private investment funds established at the Government.

Therefore, the government’s position is of   great importance - however,  5 months of  2014 have passed, but the government doesn’t provide any information about investment activity for the last period.

The newspaper "Business Rezonansi" has been trying to get comment on this issue from the Ministry of Economy for  a few days , but in the end it turned out that the representatives of the press service simply "forgot" to bring journalists’ question to their  superiors.

According to the expert Paata Sheshelidze, investments worth $ 1 billion  is too optimistic forecast , and currently any signs of at least some investment inflows are not being observed  in the country.

" It's too optimistic figure. How should we get investments worth $ 1 billion, due to what ? Privatization of land, which was a major source of investments, has been suspended. For example, after the new government came to power, no object has been sold in Adjara. None of the investment funds is working. And to say that 6 billion are accumulated is nonsense. I do not see any prospects for inward investment, " - says the expert .

In 2013, the government explained the failure of a 2 -billion investment forecast by the fact that the process of the formation of investment funds was underway , so the supply of real projects lagged. Accordingly, the inflow of investments was scheduled for 2014.

However, the Co-investment Fund is created, but in reality it has not been launched. Recently, the fund said that projects worth more than $ 1 billion had been  already approved, and later it turned out that these projects mainly exist only in the virtual space  and there is no one to fund  them.

According to the expert Giorgi Gaganidze , after an Association Agreement with the EU is signed, the investment attractiveness of the country will increase, but this is not enough without the complex measures.

" It seems that the World Bank made ​​a prediction based on the latest data. Since 2010, everyone is talking about investments worth $ 1 billion. Perhaps in 2014 1 billion USD  will be really invested in Georgia but that it is not enough - today the country needs $ 2 billion of investment annually to make economic growth more noticeable, "- the expert notes.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Sector Economy Zurab Tkemaladze states that following the Government's economic policy, potential exists to attract 1 billion USD in a case if external factors do not interfere.

"For example, such as the events in Ukraine and similar hazards against Georgia. Investors always calculate the risks. With regard to the internal situation, from this point of view all necessarily conditions for investors were created,"- the MP points out.

Source:commersant.ge