An interview with President  of the Georgian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce Itzik Moshe

What are the results of the recent Georgian-Israeli Business Forum, and if a specific agreement was reached to invest in the economy of Georgia? 

In business, it is necessary to speak with  facts, so I’ll familiarize you with what has happened  at the Business Forum. Vice-speaker of Parliament of Israel and representatives of more than 100 companies that are interested in investing in the Georgian economy arrived in Georgia as well as journalists of leading Israeli media, who are interested in the economic potential of Georgia. More than 50 meetings were held, and 5 of them culminated in specific outcomes - an agreement was reached on investing in two  projects in the hotel business,  two projects will be carried out in industry and  one- in the field of  high-technologies. This is the first concrete result and it is a very positive fact.

Three Israeli companies have expressed interest in investing capital in the energy, agriculture, and infrastructure. What's going on in this area at the moment? 
 

Our motto is to turn the union of the peoples into the union of  the countries, so the meaning of the last business forum was to discuss possible investments. Interest is shown by specific companies and specific investors. In this case we are talking about companies that have not previously worked in the Georgian market. 

When will specific business projects be launched?

Private investments in the amount of USD 350 million have already been made in Georgia - mainly funds are invested in real estate, in order to bring these projects to the end another USD 500 millionwill be invested.

An agreement to build two hotels has been  signed. Now technical matters are being discussed, and construction will begin immediately after permission is obtained. We are talking about private investment and not about credits and tenders. The situation with the enterprises is the same.Representatives of the companies that will explore specific issues related to the implementation of projects have already arrived in Georgia.

Do the Israeli businessmen plan to cooperate with the Georgian  Co-investment Fund? 
 

Funds established in Georgia, in particular, the Co-investment Fund, are required in order to attract investments from Israel. A collaboration with  the Fund, which accumulated considerable resourcesthat can help attract capital, will be positive for investors in any case.

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