How to invest in Georgia country the right way?

“Georgia” the “Pearl of the Caucasus”, due to its distinguished geographical location, and Georgia is a sovereign country, located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe with Western Asia, as it is bordered on the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, Turkey and Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the east.

Georgia has become one of the most popular European destinations for tourists, investors and businessmen who want to invest in Georgia, it is an excellent destination for those who want to live or visit a European city with no need to afford the high standard of living of Western and Central Europe. It is considered a tourist attraction to Europe with its cheap tourism costs, whether travel, residence or transportation, and even if you are thinking of living there, you can live comfortably even on lower salaries, as all of the local facilities and services are improving lately with very reasonable prices. 

After suffering from the economic crisis and internal turmoil, but after a political leadership emerged that introduced democratic reforms, and until now these reforms are being worked on.

The World Bank ranks Georgia as the number one in economic reform in the world because in one year its ranking jumped from 112th to 18th in terms of ease of doing business.

Investors are heading to invest in Georgia due to the availability of many advantages that include the following:

• The competitive workforce.
• The organizational efficiency and the advanced administrative system.
• Stable political environment.
• Liberal economy and free-market; while the total value of exports and imports is 112.6% of GDP
• Low taxes.
• Preferential trade regulations.
• Advanced transportation infrastructure
• The amount of investment in Georgia is constantly increasing.

Economic growth in Georgia 

One of the reasons that attracted investor interest to invest in Georgia is the expectation of the World Bank that Georgia’s economy grows annually at a level of 5.1%, and according to the country’s state budget, economic growth by 2022 is supposed to reach 6%.

Moreover, the inflation rate has wiggled near 3% and remained at 2.6% this year, and that was because of the increase in the international market prices of oil, electricity, and tobacco, however, the real exchange rate and weak total demand kept the inflation below its average.

The number of total exports has jumped to 22.9% and the total amount of exports reached 3,362 million$.

The reason behind that increase was the doubled re-export of cars (especially in Azerbaijan – the major market for car re-exports), tobacco products, and the copper ore. 

Tourism maintained its double-digit annual increase growth, as the cost of tourism in Georgia is not a costly thing that a tourist cannot afford. The number of tourists from different countries increased by 11.1% and the greatest proportion was from neighboring countries like Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey.

High economic growth and stable business environment in Georgia caused a noticed improvement to the national currency and strong positive development of the external sector, and the increasing number of international travelers in the first two quarters of the year has risen the exchange rate of the Georgian Lari (Georgia currency) against the US dollar and other foreign currencies.

How the Georgian government attracts investment 

The main fields of investments in Georgia vary between real estate and tourism investment and the government doesn’t save an effort to attract people to invest in Georgia, by providing many facilities, guarantees, and capabilities to foreign investors, expatriates, and even visitors to improve the real estate and tourism investment climate in the country over the past years.

Georgia is one of the pristine areas and tourism is still taking its first steps, there are many attractions to invest in Georgia. Its distinguished location is one of the important criteria for economic success indicators. Just buying any property in Georgia will definitely make you wealthy within a few years.

Therefore, the country allows foreigners to set up businesses and provide them with lots of facilities. The government is doing its best to support investors and facilitate procedures. although this is not available in most of the European countries that protect the country from investors and are satisfied with the profit of the citizens of the country.

• Georgia has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 2000.
• Georgia signed an agreement with the European Union in 2014 under the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. 
• Agreement with many large industrial countries like Switzerland, the United States of America, Canada, Norway, and Japan to reduce customs duties on the number of 3,400 commodities to be exported from Georgia to these countries. 
• 90% of the goods are exempt from import duties without restrictions even on the product quantities imported into the country. 
• The Georgian government does not impose any work visas or work permits to stay on its territory for 90 days, and this step is one of the attractions of professional employees from other countries. 
• Georgia ranked 22nd among countries, according to 2015 reports regarding the free economy. This indicator proves low corruption rates.

Low Cost of Living in Georgia 

One of the encouraging factors to invest in Georgia is the low cost of living there

Transportation 

Georgia has a metro network, most of which cover the different parts of the city and is considered a cheap means of transportation, as the cost does not exceed half a Lari, as well as large buses at the same cost.

Food

Food and drinks in Georgia are at the lowest prices, especially if you buy from the local supermarket, the Loaf of bread, for example, is about 0.80 a Lari, local or popular cheese (500 g) is 4 Lari, rice (1 kg) is 2 Lari.

If you prefer to eat in restaurants, it is also inexpensive in the local restaurants, where a meal costs two people almost 15 Lari or about $ 5.53 and drinks ranging in price from 2 to10 Lari.

Accommodation 

The accommodation fee in Georgia is not expensive at all, as there are many guest houses and hostels at a cost of no more than 20$, and 5-star hotels with almost 150$.

Also, the rent for apartments in the Spaltro the well-known region is about 300$ monthly (one room and a living room) and for 500$ (two rooms and a living room).