Analysis

FDI in Georgia drops by 54 per cent in first half of 2019

Foreign direct investment in the Georgian economy totalled 473.1 million US dollars during the first six months of this year, a drop of 53.7 per cent drop compared with the same period of 2018, the Georgian press has reported.

The figure is the lowest since 2009.

According to Geostat, Georgia’s state statistics office, the country attracted 187 million US dollars of FDI during the second quarter of 2019, 46.3 per cent less than in the second quarter of 2018.

The completion of a major pipeline project, a reduction in liabilities to non-resident direct investors and a drop in the amount of reinvestments were the main reasons for the decreasing FDI, civil.ge reported.

The energy sector was the main beneficiary of FDI inflows during the second quarter with 63.7 million US dollars, followed by the manufacturing industry (38.4 million US dollars), the hospitality sector (28.1 million US dollars), the transport sector (26.5 million US dollars) and the real estate sector (22.8 million US dollars).

The largest share of FDI (58.1 million US dollars) came from the Netherlands, followed by Turkey (36 million US dollars), the United States (27.5 million US dollars), Azerbaijan (15.8 million US dollars), Panama (15.5 million US dollars), the Czech Republic (14.8 million US dollars) and South Korea (14.2 million US dollars).

Commenting on the Geostat announcement, Georgian economy minister Natia Turnava said that local investments were continuously increasing despite the drop in international direct investments, adding that a part of this decline was due to the postponement of the Anaklia deep-sea port development project.