Analysis

UK, Georgia agree post-Brexit trade partnership

The United Kingdom and Georgia signed a Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on October 21 that will ensure trade continuity between the two countries if and when the UK leaves the European Union.

It is the UK’s first trade continuity agreement with an emerging European country.

“This agreement will ensure UK businesses and consumers benefit from continued preferential trade with Georgia,” said Dominic Raab, the UK’s foreign minister.

Should the UK leave the European Union, the agreement will replace the Association Agreement between Georgia and the European Union in bilateral relations between Georgia and the UK.

“I attach great importance to further expanding and intensifying existing strategic cooperation with the UK after Brexit,” said David Zalkaliani, the Georgian foreign minister.

The UK is one of the 10 leading investors in Georgia while two of the country’s banks, TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia, are included on the FTSE 250 share index.

According to the International Trade Centre, the UK exported goods worth 60.6 million UK pounds to Georgia in 2018, with 17.24 million UK pounds’ worth of goods going the other way.