Friday, October 17th, 2008 - Executive Coffee
Offer for AmCham members for wage and benefits survey produced by TBSC. Presentation of product offer by Paul Clark, TBSC.

AmCham Georgia, AGBC, USDoC aim to double US investment in Georgia over next year. Trade Mission & Business Summit of historic proportions coming to Tbilisi, Georgia October 26-28, 2008

Georgian IT Innovation Conference - October 29-30, Tbilisi

Doing Business 2009 Report - provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 181 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. Georgia ranks 15th in the World for Ease of Doing Business 2009. Up from a ranking of 21. To see Georgia specific data click here.
(posted on Sept-10, 2008)

Business Information Published by the Government of Georgia - how is the Georgian economy doing? Keep up to date on important fiscal and economic information in Georgia.

Association for Protection of Landowners Rights (APLR) launches professional training and certification programs for real estate appraisers.
(posted on Sept-17, 2008)

Saturday, October 11, 2008 - Georgia after the War: Exclusive AmCham meeting with three top international experts

On Saturday, October 11 AmCham members had an exclusive discussion with three renown experts on the events leading up to the war with Russia, Georgia's prospects for NATO membership and the economic realities following the war.

AmCham Georgia, in cooperation with the New Economic School, had the opportunity to listen to three private lectures on Georgia's economic and political situation following the August war on Saturday, October 11.

Andrei Illarionov, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Mart Laar, Former Prime Minister of Estonia and Sally MacNamara, Senior Policy Analyst in European Affairs, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation spoke to members about Russia's role in planning the war and the economic reality following the armed conflict.

According to Illarionov, who was a former advisor to Vladimir Putin during his presidency, the Kremlin began planning the war almost five years ago. He stressed that the armed conflict was not about Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Rather, he maintained, it was just one part of a world wide Russian campaign to reinstate Russian dominance.

"What was the real goal of the almost five years preparation...it is regime change. Regime change not only and not so much personal regime change. It was some sort of systemic regime change," he said.

Illarionov noted that the real goal was regime change and Georgia's biggest threat and obstacle today is "overcoming the psychological shock" of Russia's actions.

He advised the Georgian population and government to "postpone" any decision about the fate of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Instead, he stressed that Georgia won the war since it resisted regime change and forced Russia to expose its plans.

"Lets postpone the solution of these issues for some time and lets concentrate on some other issues on Georgian territory," he said. "It is much more important to bring country out of the psychological shock and psychological crisis."

Sally MacNamara highlighted the very real obstacles now facing Georgia and its pursuit of NATO membership. She noted that both NATO and the European Union responded inadequately to the Russian threat and stressed that Germany's continued position to block Georgia from receiving MAP is a Russian victory.

"[Russia] sent a very clear message about their geo political intentions and a preview of what is to come. We can't afford to ignore this any longer," she said.

However MacNamara noted that there is little evidence either Germany or the European Union is ready to challenge Moscow.

Mart Laar highlighted the fact that Georgia was victorious since it resisted regime change. However he noted that now the government - and society - needs to be watchful on how the aid money is used and spent so the country does not jeopardize its economic reforms.

All three speakers stressed the evidence that points to Russia initiating the conflict well before August 8. They all underlined the need for an international investigation into the causes of the war.

The event was supported by USAID's SME Support Project and held at the Sheraton Metechi Palace hotel.
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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

the Board of Directors of AmCham Georgia met with Ambassador Veroneau, Deputy US Trade Representative and members of the USTR delegation. Topics discussed were - affect of war on American businesses operating in Georgia, specific ways in which investor confidence could be restored in the shortest time possible, and the AmCham/AGBC Investment Summit on October 27. The Board also briefed the delegation on specific areas in which Georgia can continue its business reform, including Judicial Capacity building for Commercial Law, and workshops on meeting phyto-sanitary standards for Georgian exporters to the US.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - High Level Trade Delegation Comes to Georgia

Georgian exporters - including wine exporters - will have more access to the U.S. market if Congress accepts a proposal expanding their rights under the American Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

According to Marideth Sandler, a representative from the Office of U.S. Trade, the proposal would allow Georgian companies to export more products under the duty-free regime, including wine. Currently Georgia can export over 3000 types of products within the GSP framework.

Sandler was speaking with Georgian businesses and exporters during an educational forum about the GSP program Tuesday, September 30 at the Tbilisi Marriot. AmCham Georgia participated in the forum as part of its initiative to encourage more trade relations between the two countries.

The forum was part of a three day working visit from a high level U.S. Trade delegation. On Tuesday evening, Kent Longsdon, the US Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission, hosted a wine reception for the mission at his home in Tbilisi.

Georgia is currently one of the most active countries under the GSP program: according to Sandler, $63.3 million in trade was conducted within GSP, saving exporters $2.6 million in duties in 2007. Total trade between the two countries was $188 million last year, up from $116 million in 2006.

However Sandler noted that only 17 out of the possible 3400 products are being exported from Georgia to the United States within the program. She also noted that there is a "trend" of inconsistency - Georgian products will appear on the market one year but disappear the following year.

"[Georgian] export potential is not fully realized," she said. "[The United States] is very interested in being a destination for [Georgian] exports."

For more information about the program and which products are eligible, please visit this link.
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Thursday, September 18, 2008 - AmCham Business Roundtable

US Ambassador John Tefft and French Ambassador Eric Fournier met privately with AmCham members and invited guests on Thursday. The US Ambassador in his speech spoke on the details of the US assistance to Georgia. He explained how the funds (1 bln USD) allocated for rehabilitation of the country after the recent military attack would be distributed, from Georgian budget to infrastructure to construction of new homes for the refugees to long term economic development. He also mentioned that along with the financial support, several high-ranking officials are still to arrive in Georgia in the coming weeks and months to prepare grounds and participate in several business forums and trade missions with the aim to promote Georgia as an investment destination; to this end, a Georgian Business Forum (with support from AmCham Georgia) is scheduled on October 27 to be held in Tbilisi, the details will be made available soon at www.amcham.ge.

The French Ambassador Eric Fournier presented the chronicle of the war in Georgia and the efforts taken by the European leaders to provide fast and efficient response to the military crisis in Georgia, he also elaborated on the provisions of the 6-point cease-fire document. The speeches of both Ambassadors were followed by numerous questions from the floor as well as by messages from the private sector to the respective governments of the US and EU, on what aspects of Georgian economy would need special attention, from an audience that represented American, international and Georgian businesses.
Thank you to the French Ambassador Eric Fournier >>>
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