Secretary's Speech

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
Georgia Day Remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Washington, D.C.

Thank you Dan and Michael and Mr. Ambassador, thank you for your kind words. Mr. Certelli and Mr. Sovasi thank you very much for your presence and your remarks. As you know, I had the privilege, you may know some time ago, to represent President Bush at the inauguration of President Saakashvili in January of this year in Tbilisi.

As you know, I had the privilege of representing President Bush at the inauguration of President Saakashvili in January of this year in Tbilisi—and the pleasure of experiencing well known and world famous Georgian hospitality first hand.

Last week, Vice President Cheney was in Georgia to express America’s friendship and commitment after the great trials that the country has faced. As the Vice President said after meeting with President Saakashvili, and I quote, “We will help your people to heal this nation’s wounds, to rebuild this economy, and to ensure Georgia’s democracy, independence and further integration with the West.”

We are here this morning to underscore U.S. support for Georgia’s democracy and territorial integrity and to help Georgia recover from the assault by the Russian military. Georgia is and will remain an important U.S. ally and strategic partner. The U.S. is committed to ensuring that the democratic and economic gains that Georgia has made over the past several years are not lost. While our two-way trade of nearly $580 million dollars is modest, we believe it can be expanded substantially with additional effort.

As President Bush said, “the U.S. is prepared to help Georgia rebuild and regain its position as one of the world’s fastest growing economies.”

In 2007, Georgia’s economy grew by 12 percent. That growth was a reflection of Georgia’s openness to trade and investment and business-friendly economic policies. In the World Bank’s “Doing Business in 2008” report, Georgia ranked 18th of 178 countries. That’s up from 37th in 2007 and from 112th in 2006. So a tremendous, tremendous amount of progress.

Georgia has been a great place to do business—and it remains a great place to do business. The Bush administration will do all it can to help get this message out to companies and investors from all parts of the U.S.

International humanitarian assistance, including nearly $30 million dollars worth from the United States, has begun to flow into Georgia. A great deal of help will be needed to rebuild stricken areas, resettle displaced persons and refugees, and put the country’s economy back on a firm footing.

Paul Dyck, Commerce’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, went on an economic development mission to Georgia just two weeks ago. He saw first hand the needs. And the U.S. is responding.

President Bush announced last week that America is making a multiyear commitment of $1 billion in additional economic assistance. These funds will go toward meeting Georgia’s humanitarian needs and to support its economic recovery. We are working closely with our European allies. And I’m pleased that last Monday, European leaders announced the E.U. is prepared to provide aid for Georgia’s reconstruction. As part of America’s package, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation will be providing $150 million dollars in investment of private sector investment projects in Georgia.

President Bush also called on members of his Cabinet to expand support of Georgia’s economic recovery efforts. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, for example, will be exploring ways to enhance our bilateral trade relationship, including through the negotiation of an enhanced bilateral investment treaty and expanding preferential access to the U.S. market for Georgian exports.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has the U.S. lead in coordinating assistance efforts with the international financial institutions.

At the Commerce Department, we’ll be working to expand U.S.-Georgia trade and investment relations through a number of initiatives and programs. Among these are working with the America Georgia Business Council to organize a trade mission, led by Deputy Secretary of Commerce John Sullivan,* to explore new trade and investment opportunities and hosting a U.S.-Georgia Business Summit in Tbilisi this fall in conjunction with the trade mission. We will also be sending a Commercial Service Officer to Georgia to promote U.S. business interests in Georgia—Rich Steffens is here with us this morning. Rich, thank you, thank you for your service and commitment—and we will be expanding our capacity to do commercial work out of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi. Rich will be leading that effort.

We’re also going to be bringing Georgian officials and business people to America through our Special American Business Internship Training Programs to learn best practices, and develop relationships with U.S. companies as well as sending U.S. industry experts to Georgia to share knowledge. Producing an extensive report on investment needs, infrastructure requirements, market development and commercial opportunities to bolster Georgia’s oil and gas sector and independence will also be part of this effort. And we will provide technical assistance in areas as judicial training on commercial dispute settlement, intellectual property rights, and other areas that will improve Georgia’s global competitiveness and further its economic integration in the global economy.

In addition, Commerce officials will lead other events around the U.S. in coming months to ensure expanded business opportunities between our two nations. More broadly, we want to introduce Georgia to American firms and technology.

We’ll be working closely on these events with organizations like the U.S. Chamber, the America-Georgia Business Council and the AmCham in Georgia. I commend the work you and your organizations have done in building U.S.-Georgian commercial partnerships. These business ties are a vital part of our bilateral relationship and the future of Georgia and the region.

On behalf of President Bush, I thank all of you for being here and for your commitment for this very important relationship. We look forward to working with you, to expand trade, to expand investment with our friends and allies in Georgia and helping Georgia’s economy recover from the conflict.

We are proud of the people of Georgia and we value highly our relationship with them. Thank you very much for being here.

*Update: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce John Sullivan will host a U.S.-Georgia Business Summit on October 27, 2008, in Tbilisi, Georgia. During that week, he will also participate in a trade mission to Tbilisi certified by the Commerce Department.