MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili attended the presentation of Tbilisi Dry Port project. The Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Bin Ali Al Sayegh, who headed the delegation of Abu Dhabi Ports Group (AD Ports Group) visiting Tbilisi, also attended the event held.

Levan Davitashvili stressed on the prospects and importance of the economic cooperation between Georgia and the United Arab Emirates as well as of the implementation of large-scale projects in this process. Vice Prime Minister made a special emphasis on the importance of the development of the transport and logistics route of the Middle Corridor.

"Economic cooperation with the United Arab Emirates is a high priority for us. Georgia is one of the first countries to sign a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, and this is an important foundation that will further strengthen our economic ties. For us, one of the priority directions of the economy is the field of transport and logistics, where we have been very active in recent years. We had a 10% increase in cargo shipments in just a few months of this year, and about 0,5 million containers have already been processed in our ports" – Levan Davitashvili noted.

The delegation of Abu Dhabi Ports Group (AD Ports Group) under the leadership of the State Minister arrived in Tbilisi to discuss the Dry Port Project. Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Guram Guramishvili attended the presentation of the project along with the members of the delegation of the United Arab Emirates.

Tbilisi Dry Port is a modern, intermodal logistics center is an extension of Batumi and Poti seaports connecting ports and logistics facilities to the Capital city of Georgia, Tbilisi. It will start operations at the end of this year and will connect the production centers of West Asia with the consumer markets of Eastern Europe through the Middle Corridor – through the network of sea and "dry ports" of Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

Tbilisi Dry Port is located 6 km from Tbilisi Airport and is spread over an area of 283 000m2. It is planned to arrange warehouse spaces of classes A (9800 m2) and B (2500 m2). Annual capacity of the facility is up to 200 000 TEU. Paving of the port area as well as construction of the offices, Class B warehouse, mechanization center and the railway are already accomplished.

"The Middle Corridor is becoming more and more demanded. When we talk about cooperation with international investors and foreign direct investments, we emphasize the need for the quality investments. This is the very case of quality investment, which is directly related and fully consistent with our policy and priorities, which provides for the development of the infrastructure of the Middle Corridor in order to increase its competitiveness globally. Therefore, the entry of professional operators into Georgia with this project is a significant signal denoting great potential and proper development of the Middle Corridor" – the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development noted.

AD Ports Group recently announced the completion of the process of acquiring of Tbilisi Dry Port and becoming the major partner with a 60%-share. The new logistics center is managed by AD Ports Group's logistics cluster. The company has already invested 16 million USD in the Tbilisi Dry Port project while additional investments in the project is expected along with its development.