Qatar eyes real estate sector

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Georgia expects a $100-million investment from Qatari businessmen. The government made the announcement this week after the visit of a delegation from the state-run Diar property investment fund. 
The goal of the delegation’s visit was to acquire first-hand information about business opportunities in Georgia. The ministry offered the visiting businessmen the opportunity to purchase both state-owned assets or several private investment projects. 

According to officials, interest was mostly expressed in real estate and tourism.
“They mostly took an interest in real estate projects in Tbilisi and Batumi,” Economy Minister Zurab Pololikashvili told reporters Nov. 17 after meeting the delegation at the Radisson SAS Iveria Hotel. The Black Sea shore was assessed as a valuable investment.

Georgian private firms such as the Georgian Reconstruction and Development Company NV (GRDC), Rakeen Georgia and the Silk Road Group unveiled their present and planned projects for the Qatari businessmen.
A project likely to receive financing from the Qatari businessmen is the construction of the new Vake-Saburtalo Highway in Tbilisi, said Parliamentary Economy and Economic Policy Committee Chairman Giorgi Meladze, following the delegation’s meeting with MPs.

In his comments to Georgia Today, Economic Ministry Spokeswoman Nino Daraseli underscored the delegation’s positive impressions of Georgian projects.
“The Qatari businessmen said Georgia surpassed their expectations. They seem really impressed,” Daraseli said.
The delegation’s arrival followed President Mikheil Saakashvili’s visit to Qatar Nov. 4-6. Saakashvili toured Doha to publicize Georgia’s investment environment for local investment funds, offering businessmen from Qatar the chance to visit Georgia. 

In the past three years Asian capital has dominated the Georgian market. For two years in a row – 2007 and 2008 – United Arab Emirates has been the top foreign investor. Last year UAE invested up to $306.6 million or 19.6  percent of Georgia’s total FDI. 

The central bank’s projection earlier this year stated that capital from Arab nations will continue flowing into Georgia appears to have come true.
Egyptian home appliances company Fresh Electric announced plans this spring to start investing over $3 billion in Georgia in the course of three years. Now the Qatari businessmen are eyeing more closely the local business environment.
“Following a decline in fuel prices, Arab countries, mostly from the Persian Gulf, are attempting to diversify their capital by investing in various countries,” National Investment Agency of Georgia Public Outreach Coordinator  Teona Gabunia told Georgia Today.  “Georgia with its liberal investment environment and geopolitical location looks really appealing.”

Nino Edilashvili

20.11.2009