Georgia’s export-oriented companies offered state financial support

Every small, middle or large-scaled enterprise in Georgia that has the potential to export its products will be offered financial support by the state.

A new Export Promotion Agency will be established in the next three months which will support all local companies deemed to have export potential, announced officials. Through the establishment of the Export Promotion Agency, the PF will start to support local export-oriented companies in a bid to increase the country’s export potential.

Today, the Government of Georgia awarded Italian export promotion agency SACE with an advisory contract to establish and start-up the new export credit agency in the Caucasian country.

The Export Promotion Agency, whose objective is to enhance Georgian companies’ competitiveness as well as their export activity, will be managed by the Partnership Fund, a state-owned investment fund created in 2011 to provide financial support for high-priority projects in strategic sectors such as energy, agribusiness, manufacturing, infrastructure/logistics and tourism/real estate.

The advisory contract outlined the responsibilities of the PF and SACE in establishing the Export Promotion Agency; noting both sides will jointly develop the structure of the Agency and create the rules for financing Georgia’s export-oriented companies.

Georgia’s Economy Minister Giorgi Kviriakshvili attended the contract signing ceremony and promised the Ministry would offer full support to the PF and SACE in all activities. In his words, it was possible to create such export fields which currently do not exist in Georgia.

In a media statement, SACE said: "Georgia is one of the most dynamic economies in the region, with a competitive business climate and a manufacturing system based primarily on small and medium-sized enterprises that hold a significant potential for further development and diversification.”

"The Government’s incentives in key areas such as agriculture, tourism and infrastructure, along with the potential benefits associated with the recent trade agreement with the EU countries, may produce positive short and medium-term effects on both exports and foreign direct investments in the country,” said SACE.

The SACE group currently operates in 189 countries to ensure a more stable cash flow, as well as transforming the insolvency risks of 25,000 business customers into development opportunities.

In the past ten years SACE has supported the establishment and development of several export credit agencies and other financial institutions in various emerging markets such as the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. The company is now working to break into emergency markets, including Sub-Saharan Africa.
(Agenda.ge)