On 28 October − 5 November 2007, the Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli visited Austria, Great Britain and the USA.
On October 29, a round table meeting was held under the title: Making Business and Investing in Georgia, which was organized by the Economist journal aiming at stirring interest among the foreign investors about the business environment in Georgia. At the conference, the prime minister of Georgia spoke with regard to the economic reforms being carried out in Georgia and the positive investment environment that had been created in the country. On the mentioned issues the prime minister said the following: "It is of paramount importance that we are starting the next stage of attracting the investment capital to Georgia. Just 2 years ago, direct foreign investments in Georgia amounted to 7% of the GDP, last year it equaled to 15% and this year it has already reached 25%; we will not spare our efforts to maintain this dynamics.
Positive tendencies already in place in Georgia were emphasized by the participants of the forum as well. In particular, it was underlined, that from the point of view of the reforms, a lot of things have changed in our country; Georgia is now very notable on the world business map and this conference will be one more opportunity for the country to present itself before such a distinguished gathering. A representative of the Energo-Pro Company asserted that he was among the participants of similar conference just two years before and it was also dedicated to promoting comfortable business environment in Georgia. Now he testified readily that the capital should by all means be invested in Georgian business.
Within the framework of the above mentioned round table discussion, the Georgian side presented new business projects before the representatives of the Austrian business circles, such as: the Georgian Railways, the Poti Port and other projects related to agriculture and tourism, as well as in energy and healthcare spheres.
On 30 October a special session of the permanent council of the OSCE was held in Vienna, in the work of which Georgia’s governmental delegation headed by the Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli was also participating.
The prime minister of Georgia gave a speech before the delegations accredited in the OSCE. He spoke in a broad context about the situation in Georgia and particularly, he touched upon the issues related to the conflict resolution. He presented Georgia’s vision on the further development of this process and mentioned the positive changes which lately have become more visible in the Tskhinvali region (South Osetia, Georgia). From this perspective, he briefed the international audience on the steps made by Georgia for the purpose of peaceful resolution of the conflict; in particular, he touched upon the progress achieved through the active actions undertaken by the provisional administration in Tskhinvali region; he also mentioned the activities of the state commission on defining the status of the region and the first results yielded in the course of the work already carried out in this respect. "We can observe quite interesting dynamics manifested by Sanakoev’s alternative government; the process is developing with high intensity. We held a meeting shortly before arriving here and we specially discussed the financial- economic issues,” – the prime minister asserted.
The issues related to implementation of the program on economic rehabilitation of Tskhinvali region were accentuated and Georgia’s contribution to this international program was specially underlined.
Within the context of the missile attack on Tsitelubani, Zurab Noghaideli emphasized the issues related to elaborating the mechanisms of prevention and abrupt reaction within the framework of OSCE. "It was of paramount importance that the fact of bombing Tsitelubani was discussed in the OSCE and we also appreciate the support that this organization has extended to us. Arranging a check-point in the village of Didi Guphta, which will hinder the flow of smuggled weapons, narcotics or enriched Uranium to other regions of Georgia (via the above mentioned territory), was actively supported by the representatives of many countries. This enables me to hope that by the next meeting of the Mixed Control Commission we will launch a far more constructive conversation,” – the prime minister asserted.
During his stay in Vienna, he also met Carlos De Boardo, the Spanish Chairman of the OSCE and Secretary General of the OSCE Mark Perrin de Brichambaut.
On 31 October, in London, the economic forum: Invest in Georgia organized by the Financial Times was held. It was attended by representatives of a number of leading business companies. The Prime Minister of Georgia, Zurab Noghaideli made a presentation at the conference and spoke about the reforms accomplished in Georgia; he also touched upon the success achieved in making business as well as the positive investment environment in our country. It was emphasized that by way of arranging such events, Georgia’s government is assuming to increase the amount of foreign investments in our country. "We are deeply convinced in the successful implementation of all those projects which have been presented at this forum. This year, we are expecting almost 2.2-2.5 billion dollar capital investments in Georgia’s economics," – Zurab Noghaideli stated.
The same day, the prime minister of Georgia met Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). According to Mr. Lemierre’s assessment, the process of implementation of the large-scale reforms in Georgia proved to be rather fast and the amount of investments has been doubled during the last three years. “Now the most important task is to encourage people’s participation in the reform process,” – he asserted.
In parallel to the economic forum in London, an exhibition: “Taste of Georgia” was also arranged, which had the Georgian products on display.
On 5 November at the end of the visits, under the initiative of Dow Jones, a conference on Business Activities and Investment Opportunities in Georgia was held in New York. The participants discussed the achievements pertaining to making business and the prospects of investing capital in Georgia.
Prime Minister's Press Service