Concerns about medium and small size businesses in Georgia

While Georgian officials state that a leading sector of the economy should be small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), practically nothing is being done to make this a reality, causing criticism from the opposition parties and independent analysts.

On November 3 the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Vera Kobalia stated that the backbone of Georgia’s economy should be SMEs. She said that in the USA, in Germany and other countries SMEs are of major importance to the economy and that Georgia should increase support to this sector. Opposition Christian-Democratic movement leader Giorgi Targamadze said that problems in the social and political spheres mean SMEs are not compatible with the Georgian context since they are often not competitive and also because there reigns a monopolistic situation in the business sector in Georgia. According to Targamadze this creates barriers for SMEs by preventing their creation, decreasing the numbers of employees they can hire and limiting their income, etc. He said there should be an anti-monopoly office to help create a competitive environment, and that recommendations by the EU and other international partners should also be followed.