MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

“Rankings by the Forbes is a good message for the international investors that Georgia’s business environment is improving every year,” – Ekaterine Mikabadze, the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia when commenting on the recently published list of the Best Countries for Business by the Forbes.

The Forbes, an authoritative international edition, has published the list of the Best Countries for Business where Georgia’s position in 2018, compared to the previous year, ranking is improved by 8 positions and reached the 44th place.

The ranking evaluates the countries according to 10 components. Ekaterine Mikabadze noted that Georgia is at the leading positions in four components such as Investor Protection, Red Tape, Trade Freedom and Tax Burden.

According to Ekaterine Mikabadze, Georgia’s position is the best among the post-Soviet countries except the Baltic States. “This rating is the result of the reforms implemented by the Government of Georgia since 2013. Measures for reducing foreign vulnerability and reforms implemented by the Government will positively affect the investment decisions, which in turn will have a positive impact on economic growth,” – Ekaterine Mikabadze noted.

The Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development highlighted that international investors as well as international financial institutions, estimates that the current economic situation makes it possible to carry out the reforms that promote resilience to external shocks, economic diversification, increase competitiveness of the private sector and will be directed towards ensuring inclusive growth.

As for the neighboring countries, the Forbes ranking give the following evaluation: Russia – 55th place, Turkey – 57th place, Kazakhstan – 65th place, Azerbaijan – 70th place. Armenia – 81st place.

It should be noted that the Forbes uses the evaluation method which is based on the data by such well-known researches as the World Bank Doing Business, Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum, Economic Freedom Index by Heritage Foundation, Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, World Freedom Index by the Freedom House, International Index of Property Rights by the Property Rights Alliance, the UN Human Development Index and the CIA's World Factbook.