Azerbaijan enters top five investing in Georgia

Source: /AzerNews/

Azerbaijan was among top five countries in terms of direct foreign investment in Georgia in 2012, the Georgian National Statistics Office (GeoStat) reported on August 15.

According to the GeoStat, the volume of Azerbaijan's direct investments in Georgia amounted to $59 million in 2012, or 7 percent of the total direct investment in the country.

Total direct foreign investments to Georgia amounted to $911.6 million in 2012, involving 72 countries. Germany topped this list on investors, raising $138.8 million (15 percent of total direct investment) in the Georgian economy. It is followed by the United Kingdom with $93.6 million, or 10 percent of total investments, Turkey with $81.1 million (9 percent of total investments, and investments of international organizations with $63.5 million, or 7 percent of total investment.

In the first quarter of 2013, the volume of Azerbaijan's direct investments in the Georgian economy amounted to $38.4 million, increasing by 94.9 percent compared to the same period of 2012.

In just five years (from 2008 to 2012) the amount of Azerbaijan's direct investments in Georgia amounted $308.7 million. The largest volume of investments was fixed in 2011, when the figure was $138 million. The lowest amount was recorded in 2008 - $ 23,9 million.

Moreover, Azerbaijan has become a major market for Georgia's exports in the first half of 2013. Goods exported from Georgia to Azerbaijan amounted $332.81 million in January to June, 2013, or 26.9 percent of total exports.

Export to Azerbaijan increased by 17.5 percent in this period compared to the same period in 2012, when Georgian imports to Azerbaijan amounted to $283.23 million.

Armenia was Georgia's second importer in the first half of 2013, holding $141.06 million (11.4 percent of total exports) in trade operations. Third largest importer of Georgian goods was the U.S. with $85.07 million (or 6.9 percent).

Total exports of Georgia amounted to $1.24 billion in January to June, 2013, increasing by 9 percent compared to the same period in 2012.

Georgia's import from Azerbaijan amounted to $273.16 million in the first half of 2013. According to the report, the volume of imports from Azerbaijan to Georgia decreased by 15.3 percent compared to the same period of last year when Georgia imported goods worth $322.57 million from Azerbaijan.

At the same time, Azerbaijan ranks second in the list of countries exporting to Georgia. The share of Azerbaijani imports in Georgia's total goods imports made up 7.9 percent. Georgia imports mainly come from Turkey. In the first half of 2013 the volume of goods exports from Turkey to Georgia amounted to $610.87 million, or 17.6 percent of the country's total imports worth $3.48 billion.