French Business Council and Association of Banks of Georgia join ICC Georgia Board of Directors
At its March 19 board meeting, ICC Georgia welcomed the Association of Banks of Georgia and the French Business Council onto the chamber’s Board of Directors.
“We are proud to welcome these two business organizations into ICC Georgia," said Fady Asly, Chairman of the Board. “I look forward to working with them to further ICC Georgia's goal of promoting the interests of the business community.”
The Association of Banks of Georgia protects the interests and rights of banks, coordinates their legal action and promotes mutual trust between banks operating in Georgia. The French Business Council promotes an open market system in Georgia, while fostering French-Georgian business relations to expand and modernize Georgia’s international trade and investment.
ICC is the most influential business organization in the world, present in 130 countries with hundreds of thousands of members. It works closely with the WTO, WCO, G8 and UN through its numerous commissions.
Dhabi Group to construct Kempinski hotel in Tbilisi
Dhabi Group and Capital Vostok announced the closure of deal on Kempinski Hotel Tbilisi. This would be Dhabi Group’s third major investment in Georgia after Warid Telecom, obtaining the Kor-Bank license and the recent acquisition of Standard Bank.
Kempinski Hotel Tbilisi will be located on central Rustaveli Avenue. Capital Vostok is a partner in the venture; the investment group drew up the initial project. The estimated cost of the project is USD 110 million.
The group said the investment is “the reflection of our confidence in Georgian economy and the liberal policy of the government.”
Lithuanian Airlines enters Georgian market
Lithuanian Airlines (flyLAL) announced it’s entering the Georgian market. The airline will start flying from Tbilisi on May 6.
“Georgia is very attractive for Lithuanians. At the same time Georgia will receive opportunity to visit Lithuania and to fly through Lithuania to different destinations in Europe,” the company’s director general, Tadas Puksta, said.
The company started operating in 1991. It operates direct scheduled flights from Vilnius and Palanga to 18 destinations.
Tbilisi hosts Georgian-Chinese forum
Twelve Chinese and fifty Georgian companies participated in the Georgian-Chinese business forum on March 26 in Tbilisi.
Governor of Kakheti region Levan Bezhashvili participated in the forum, saying Georgian winemakers have already started exporting wines in China and plan to increase the amount of exported wine in the future.
Yesterday Chinese businessmen visited the wine-producing Kakheti province.
New McDonalds opens in Tbilisi
The first McDrive in Georgia, and the third McDonalds restaurant, opened this week in Tbilisi.
The McDonalds in Saburtalo district will work 24 hours a day and features a drive-through window.
Farm Service Center opens in Marneuli
On March 25 the MCG-funded Farm Service Center opened in Marneuli.
Two farm service centers already operate in Terjola and Kaspi. MCG said they plan to fund two more centers in Gori and Gurjaani this spring.
“Our objective is to open around thirty farm service centers and develop a retail trade network over the whole of the country,” said Lia Mamniashvili, MCG’s acting CEO.
The center will provide a full range of agricultural goods and services for local farmers, including crop and veterinary inputs, machinery services, tools and small equipment, training and extension services, trade credit and market information.
