Free Trade Negotiations commenced with the United Arab Emirates
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, December 30
On 29th of December, Georgia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed an agreement on starting free trade negotiation in the framework of Dubai Expo 2020. Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava has stated that free trade with the UAE will boost Georgian exports to that country and region.
Back in September Turnava held a meeting in the Ministry of Economy of the UAE, after which she announced that Georgia would be one of the first countries in the region to start negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates UAE.
“It is important that the talks will start without a feasibility study, because given the trade and economic trends between the countries, it is clear that free trade will be beneficial for both of them”, she then announced.
3 months later, the agreement has been signed and negotiations will take on, which are planned to continue next year as well. Parties expressed hope that the process will end successfully next year.
Turnava stated that despite the pandemic, turnover between the countries is increasing, noting that ‘interest is much higher.’ According to her, these are agricultural products, fruits, vegetables, meat products, mineral waters and many other products that we can supply to the market for which there is great interest.
Recall that Georgia has a free trade regime with the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Turkey, China, and Hong Kong.
In addition, another agreement was signed between the Georgian Energy Development Fund and the United Arab Emirates State Fund "Masdar" to start the development of solar energy in Georgia. According to the agreement, the parties will carry out technical, commercial and financial activities for the further development of the solar power plant project. The final decision on project funding will be made after the completion of the research phase (within 6 months of signing). For this purpose, Masdar has expressed interest in developing a solar power plant with a capacity of up to 100 MW in Georgia.
According to Turnava, Masdar is the largest state fund, a global leader in the field of renewable energy in our region, including the development of solar energy with very affordable electricity tariffs. Minister clarified that the same great interest has been expressed in projects by the Masdar Foundation for wind turbines built into the water, as well as floating solar power plants, and these are the latest technologies that will soon be introduced in Georgia as a result of this cooperation.
In recent months several visits of the Fund's delegation to Georgia have already taken place, specific locations for the project have been selected. Now a joint study is starting, where the Georgian Energy Development Fund will enter as a partner.
Within Expo 2020 in Dubai,Georgian delegation also held a meeting with the company DP World, which works in the field of logistics and transport. The meeting focused on the potential of Georgia as a regional leader in terms of logistics development, as well as specific projects, including the Anaklia deep-water port.
The representatives of DP World - one of the leading companies in the world in terms of terminal-port services, cargo shipping, and logistics expressed interest in getting acquainted in detail with the research conducted by the Georgian government on Anaklia, according to which the Anaklia deep-water port project still maintains high business attractiveness.
Global, container-terminal operator with a high reputation, DP World operates 82 maritime terminals in 40 countries around the world, handling an average of 70 million containers a year. The company also provides logistics and maritime services and operates free industrial zones. As of 2018, the company had revenue of $ 8.5 billion.
“We hope that this company, as well as other potential investors, will be interested in entering Anaklia,” Turnava said.
