MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

Within the framework of the visit to Dubai, the First Vice Prime Minister of Georgia met with Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the Minister of State for Foreign Trade and the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the Emirates, Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei. Levan Davitashvili spoke with the highest officials of the Emirates about the important issues of relations and trade and economic ties between the two countries.

According to the First Vice Prime Minister, Georgia’s economic relations with the United Arab Emirates are growing and actively developing. As the last year’s data illustrated, the trade turnover between Georgia and the United Arab Emirates increased by 39%. There is also a growing dynamic in the tourism sector - last year, by 18,9% more visitors from the Emirates came to Georgia. The statistics of air traffic and passenger flow between the two countries should also be highlighted, as the number of passengers transported by direct regular flights in 2023 is by 23,1% higher compared to the data of the previous year.

At the meeting with the Minister of State for Trade of the Emirates, special attention was paid to the agreement on comprehensive economic partnership between Georgia and the United Arab Emirates, which was signed in October 2023 and will enter into force this year. According to this agreement, Georgia will benefit from the free trade regime with the Emirates, which means access to an additional 10-million market with high purchasing power for the country. The Ministers discussed the next stages of stimulating usage of the free trade agreement between the two countries and how to bring the private sectors even closer in order to increase the volume of investments from the Emirates to Georgia.

Relations and cooperation with Georgia were also highly evaluated at the meeting held with the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Emirates, where Levan Davitashvili spoke about the priorities and future plans for the development of the energy sector of the country. According to his assessment, cooperation with the United Arab Emirates is particularly interesting in this direction, and the Georgian government is ready to take even more active steps to deepen cooperation in the field of energy and create additional investment opportunities.

The largest solar power plant project in Georgia, which is to be implemented by the United Arab Emirates state company "Masdar", was given a particular attention. The new solar power plant, which is planned to be built in Gardabani municipality, will reduce the dependence on imports and diversify local sources of electricity supply, as well as contribute to the achievement of renewable energy, climate change goals and the fulfilment of the obligation under the Association Agreement.