GEO/96/011
Total Budget: USD 648,433
UNPD Sector: Capacity Building for Public Sector
Starting Date: November 1997
Duration: 29 months

The period of transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy has seen a complete vacuum in investments, the Government no longer has the necessary resources to invest and the emerging private sector has yet to obtain them. The Georgian Government recognises the urgent need for investment, and more specifically of foreign direct investment, as essential for growth and economic recovery. The Georgian Investment Centre was established by Order of the Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations in November 1996, to promote foreign direct investment and to support and encourage the creation of a conducive environment for both foreign and domestic investment. The Government requested the assistance of UNDP to develop an institutional framework for the Centre and to assist it in the implementation of the National Investment Promotion Strategy.

The project aims to sustain the environment for foreign investment and to increase the level of foreign and domestic investment in Georgia by strengthening the capacity of the Georgian Investment Centre (GIC) to carry out investment promotion activities and by assisting it to formulate and launch a national investment promotion strategy.

• Clearly define the mandate, legal base, system of governance, internal structure, staffing and operating management procedures of the GIC

• Train the Agency’s staff through seminars, presentations, and on the job training in Investment promotion concepts; Business strategy and Investment Trends; Providing Investor Services and Investment Promotion skills.

• Define, organise and carry out study tours abroad and external training of staff.

• Analyse Georgia’s competitive advantages in order to determine the sectors that are most likely to attract foreign investors, and develop a strategy for targeting investors in specific industries and sectors.

• Establish contact with the existing investors by following up on the FDI projects already registered.

• Launch the GIC publicity campaign in Georgia, including the publication of various brochures and an Investors’ Guide

• Undertake an assessment of the current policy for investment in Georgia, and advocate for policy reforms on behalf of investors in any aspects of the environment they face.

• At the end of the present project it is expected that:

• The policy and institutional framework for the GIC will have been defined;

• The personnel of the GIC will have been trained in investment promotion;

• A National strategy for the promotion of foreign and domestic investment will have been designed and launched;

• Potential and existing investors will have been be provided with good and reliable information, easing the problems they face in obtaining government clearances and permits, and helping them to overcome the numerous hurdles faced in implementing investment projects in a new environment;

• An image-building strategy will have been designed and launched abroad, aimed at creating a positive view of the country as a suitable location for investments.

• The GIC will have carried out a policy assessment and if necessary, advocated on behalf of investors.