Located between Europe and Asia on a historical “Silk Road”, the economy of Georgia is highly integrated with international markets.
Georgia’s liberal trade regimes provide investors with a favorable opportunity to not only access the country’s 3.7 m residents, but the wider region’s markets, as a direct result of the absence of customs and import tariffs. To date, Georgia has signed FTAs with CIS countries that include Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as its neighbors, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Association Agreement (“AA”) with EU was signed and ratified in 2014, including Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (“DCFTA”). Additionally on 27th of June 2016 Georgia signed FTA with EFTA countries, giving Georgian products duty free access to markets of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Georgia has also free trade agreement with the Republic of China (including Hong Kong).
General Schemes of Preference for Georgia with the US, Canada, and Japan have also been applied for, with the result being lower tariffs on 3,400 goods exported from Georgia.
Additionally, Georgia is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2000.
In terms of border control, all foreign travelers to Georgia enjoy highly accessible and service-oriented customs policies and administrative protocol. There is almost no custom duty, with 90 % of goods being exempt from import tariffs, with no quantitative restrictions. The average time for customs clearance is currently about 15 minutes – one of the fastest and most efficient in the CIS.