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Minister optimistic about investments

By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, September 28
The young and recently appointed Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Vera Kobalia, is optimistic about direct foreign investment into Georgia, and expects major amounts to be entering Georgia in the fourth quarter of 2010. So far, in the first two quarters, Georgia received USD 469 million altogether. Initially, Georgia's target was to receive investments of up to USD 1 bln. So, more than a half of this amount will need to be accumulated in the last quarter of this year. Most of the independent analysts are skeptical about the prospect of this materialising, however officials are optimistic. During her voyage to the United States, Kobalia was trying to encourage American businesses to enter the Georgian market. Precisely how successful these attempts were will be judged in a couple of months' time. Apart from traditional investors such as USA, UK, and UAE Kobalia mentioned that they are trying to attract China, India and South Korea. She also mentioned that currently there is a very attractive target for the investors and that is Georgian post which has 900 affiliations around Georgia. So far, in 2010 the biggest investors are the Netherlands, USA and Virgin Islands. In 2008-2009, the leading investor in Georgia was UAE. In 2010, the largest investments went into transport and communications, industry and real estate.