Advantages of doing business in Georgia

Georgia is possibly most famous for its wines throughout the world. In fact, it is widely believed that wine making originated in Georgia over 7000 years ago.

Georgia has being doing business for a long time but in recent years has raced ahead of the rest of the region in terms of ease of doing business. Here are some of the key findings from the World Bank Ease of Doing Business 2016 report.

According to the World Banks Ease of Doing Business 2016 index, Georgia ranks very favorable at 24 compared to the regional average of 69.82.

Similarly starting a business in Georgia is ranked well at 6 while countries in region like Bulgaria and Romania are ranked at 52 and 45 respectively. One of the major reforms Georgia has made to improve their ranking since 2012 is to simplify business start-up by eliminating the requirement to make an onsite visit to a bank to pay the registration fees.

Ability to obtain credit is an important factor for investors in their decision for business set up in a particular country. Again Georgia is ranked extremely well by the World Bank and comes in at 7 versus Europe and Central Asia which are only ranked at 51.

Georgia has implemented the following reforms in the past 4 years to earn this ranking:

• It has provided improved access to credit by providing a centralized collateral registry with an attached database that can be accessed online.
• Additionally, it has amended its civil code to broaden the range of assets that can be used as collateral.
• It has extended its security interest law to the products, proceeds and replacement of collateral giving more assurance to investors.
• Georgia improved its credit information system by implementing a new law on personal data protection.

Georgia is also ahead on the region in enforcing contracts and ease of doing business through the courts. This allows court cases to be wrapped up more efficiently and gives confidence to external and internal investors that the rules of the country will be fairly implemented. Georgia has done this systematically over the past 5 years by:

• Modernizing and simplifying its dispute resolution procedure and public auction systems and by putting in place enforcement officers.
• Streamlining the steps required for commercial disputes.
• The introduction of an online filing system for anyone using the courts.

Paying tax has also become easier in Georgia and they introduced two key initiatives in recent years to modernize this system namely:

• By the introduction of electronic filing and payment of corporate taxes.
• By making use of electronic systems to provide additional services to tax payers.

While wine related industry continues to flourish in Georgia, there are also many other opportunities in this beautiful and business forward country. For company incorporation and set up services, do not hesitate to contact Healy Consultants Group in house experts.

Useful Links:

1. Company Registration Georgia: https://www.healyconsultants.com/georgia-company-registration/
2. https://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/georgia

Image credit
“Alaverdi monastery in Kakheti, Georgia (1)” by Paata Vardanashvili from Tbilisi, Georgia – Alaverdi Monastery. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Healy Consultants Group provides a wide range of corporate services across the world. Email or WhatsApp us now to find out more about our services.