State to become the biggest investor

At the Government session held on January 9 President Saakashvili declared that new ways of stimulating the country’s economy should be activated due to the radical changes in the financial and economic environment. He suggested a new approach in the country’s investment policy, stating that now the biggest investor in the country should become the state itself.

Saakashvili said that due to the world financial crisis the country should not only rely on foreign investments. Just one year ago, life was much easier as there was a lot of spare money around and investors were eager to allocate this to good places. But today the situation is radically different, as there is no extra money and the banks are not happy to give out credit. So to stimulate the local economy the country has to invest in its own economy.

The President promised that in the coming month the state would announce different tenders for various projects which will create approximately 25-30 000 jobs. GEL 300 million will be allotted for road infrastructure projects, GEL 120 million for irrigation, GEL 120 million for constructing houses for IDPs, GEL 120 million for implementing Tbilisi municipal programmes, GEL 66 million for the regions, GEL 20 million for agricultural programmes and so on. The President promised that the process of announcing and conducting the tenders would be transparent and under strict control.