BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
By Maryana Akhmedova – Trend:
Azerbaijani investors play a particularly important role in the development of Georgia’s Poti free industrial zone (FIZ), David Ebralidze, the CEO of the FIZ, told Trend.
According to the CEO, for many years and today, the number of Azerbaijani companies is almost a quarter of the total number of companies registered in Poti FIZ.
Most of the Azerbaijani companies at the Poti FIZ are engaged in the trade sector, in particular, those are the exporters of pharmaceuticals, of which almost half, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts and tires, Ebralidze said.
Among the Azerbaijani enterprises at Poti FIZ Ebralidze noted a metal tile production plant that has been operating there since 2015. The company became one of the largest suppliers of construction products to the Azerbaijani market immediately after the production launch, he said.
Another Azerbaijani industrial project at the FIZ was launched in 2021 and is engaged in food production. The enterprise plans to export its products to Asian countries and the US.
One of the largest Azerbaijani companies plans to develop several business lines at the Poti FIZ, the CEO said.
“One of them is a warehouse, due to the fact that there is a constant demand for both storage facilities and ready-made production buildings at the FIZ. The investor is also interested in the construction of lubricants production plant,” Ebralidze said.
“At this stage, we are conducting appropriate preliminary investigation procedures related to obtaining a certificate of origin, since the product must be exported to the EU countries with which Georgia has a free trade agreement,” he noted.
“We are currently negotiating with Azerbaijani investors, but usually the development of industrial projects takes a lot of time and we will see the results later,” the CEO added.
Meanwhile, Poti FIZ became the first industrial zone established in the Caucasus and has already become one of the most important platforms and links in the supply chain in the region.
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