RE: Interesting events in June/ July by Georgia PM29 Oct 2019 17:28
Why Georgia came to Texas to recruit businesses — no, not that Georgia
The World Bank Group ranks Georgia near the top for ease of doing business. It has the third lowest tax rate in the world. Few U.S. businesses know those stats.
Author: Jason Whitely
Published: 9:00 AM CDT June 22, 2019
Updated: 9:00 AM CDT June 22, 2019
DALLAS — Leaders from Georgia visited Texas last week dangling low taxes and an ease of doing business hoping to recruit local companies willing to broaden their investments.
This sounds like the playbook Texas uses in California to lure businesses to relocate.
But this was the prime minister of Georgia – as in Tbilisi. Not Atlanta.
Mamuka Bakhtadze, Georgia’s prime minister, met with business leaders in Dallas last week trying to get them to consider investing in his country, more than 6,700 miles from North Texas.
“Already 200 companies from America are doing business in Georgia,” said Bakhtadze in an interview for WFAA’s Inside Texas Politics to air 9 a.m. Sunday.
He said Texas companies opened in the country a few months ago. Two are technology businesses.
“We are very much focused on creating a new ecosystem in Georgia which will be the hub for tech company startups. I’m happy to say that entrepreneurs from Texas are involved in this process," Bakhtadze said.
Georgia's Prime Minister Mamaku Bakhtadze on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics.
Mike Ortiz / WFAA
The prime minister said he’s looking for Texas companies in the energy, tech, transportation and logistics sectors.
During his Texas visit, Bakhtadze spoke at a luncheon with the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and held a roundtable with entrepreneurs at the Capital Factory in Dallas.
"I am excited about the initiatives of the prime minister of Georgia in support of entrepreneurship," said Dave Caps, founding partner and strategic director of Hypergiant, to representatives of the Georgian government. "I was incredibly impressed by the meeting and look forward to supporting the country with anything I can."
The prime minister represents his country’s growing desire to establish a vibrant economy in the region. Bakhtadze turned 37 a few days before his interview with WFAA.
He visited Seattle, San Francisco and Canada before Dallas.
Georgia, which borders Turkey and is on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, gained its independence from Russia in 1991.
“We had to overcome a number of very painful challenges and still one of the most painful challenges is that Russia still occupies 20% of our territory,” Bakhtadze said.
Despite that, the prime minister said, the country is transforming into a "top investment destination."
“For us, a strategic partnership from the United States is the number one priority," he said.
Since his election last June, Bakhtadze has pushed for Georgia to become part of the European Union and a member of NATO.
Georgia Prime Minister Mamaku Bakhtadze with U.S. Secretary of State Mike