MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development met with members of the Business Association of Georgia. Speaking at the meeting with representatives of the business sector, Levan Davitashvili discussed current processes, existing trends, and forecasts in both the Georgian and global economies. As Davitashvili noted, despite geopolitical and regional shocks, Georgia successfully coped with external shocks and maintained macroeconomic stability.

“In 2024, Georgia’s economic growth equaled to 9,4% – Georgia had one of the highest economic growth rates globally and ranks third in the world in terms of economic growth rate. In 2024, economic growth was quite diversified, and the contribution of sectors characterized by high labor productivity to economic growth increased. Domestic demand is strong, and consumption made the highest contribution to economic growth, increasing by 13% annually against the background of strong credit activity and wage growth,” – the First Vice Prime Minister stated.

The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development also spoke in detail about the facilitating factors for Georgia’s economic growth and development, ongoing reforms, and state programs and projects. According to Davitashvili’s information, capital expenditures will continue to be a driver of high economic growth, and reforms and infrastructure projects aimed at improving access to finance, increasing investment, and utilizing export and energy potential will contribute to economic growth and structural improvements.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of Georgia’s private sector from various business fields as well as the Deputy Ministers of Economy and Sustainable Development: Nino Enukidze, Mariam Kvrivishvili, Irakli Nadareishvili, Vakhtang Tsintsadze, and Guram Guramishvili, who reviewed the trends in their respective areas of responsibility and answered the questions posed.

The Deputy Ministers spoke about the positive trends in the country’s economy, including the ongoing and implemented programs for the development of the country’s innovative startup ecosystem. As noted, Georgia today has a rapidly developing dynamic ecosystem, and to further support startups, both grant programs are being implemented, and the state is facilitating their access to private finance and assisting them in entering international markets.

It was mentioned that startups supported by the government with 40 million GEL in funding were enabled to generate approximately half a billion GEL in economic benefits. It was also noted that as a result of the implemented reforms, Georgia is positioning itself in the region as a growing and attractive center for innovation and technology. The programs by the Enterprise Georgia Agency were also discussed, since they support several important areas of the country’s economy, including attracting investments and developing export potential.

One of the important issues that was focused on at the meeting was the tourism sector. As noted, Georgia received a record income of 826 million USD from tourism in the first three months of this year – tourist flows to the country are increasing, including from EU countries, especially the Netherlands, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, as well as from Israel, India, China, the Gulf countries, and so on. Along with the growth of tourism, the growth dynamics in the aviation sector were emphasized, as well as the policy of the Georgian government in this regard and active work to attract new international airlines to the country. As a result, today 60 airlines operate in Georgia to nearly 100 direct destinations at all three international airports in the country. At the meeting, the parties also discussed projects that are of particular importance in terms of improving the competitiveness of the economy and increasing Georgia’s integration into global supply chains, including the Anaklia Deep Sea Port, the new Tbilisi Airport, the Black Sea Submarine Cable, etc. According to the Minister, these projects are proceeding systematically and, at the same time, in an active mode.

The meeting continued in an interactive format and the heads of the Ministry of Economy provided business representatives with detailed information on all issues of interest to them. Levan Davitashvili thanked the leadership of the Georgian Business Association and the meeting participants for an interesting discussion and noted that such meetings will continue in the future.