Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan approved Japanese companies to conduct a Project Feasibility Study for the Anaklia Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Georgia. Main emphasis of the study is the possibility to attract Japanese companies (manufacturing and logistics sector) as a part of Anaklia Special Economic Zone. Study should elaborate SEZ development plan and a masterplan. In the frame of the grant, three parties are involved, Tomonius Co., Ltd. the company which is the applicant of the grant, Phnom Penh SEZ Plc. the partner company in the cooperation and Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. consultant company working on development plan of Anaklia SEZ.  

 “Since February 2019, Anaklia City and Phnom Pehn SEZ have been working on cooperation to develop the strategy for success of Anaklia Special Economic Zone. Phnom Pehn SEZ was established in 2006 year as joint venture between Japanese and Cambodian companies. Since then, the company has successfully developed 400ha of area and as of today, and has tenants from 14 nations where companies have invested about USD 600 million in their projects and employ more than 20,000 local people. Among the clients of the SEZ there are leading Japanese and other International companies. In March this year CEO of Phnom Pehn SEZ and expert from Nippon Koei visited Anaklia to study the project more closely. I hope the feasibility study bring a positive outcome for private Japanese business.” - Said His Excellency Mr. Uehara Tadaharu, Ambassador of Japan in Georgia.

“This is the proof that Japan has had greater interests in Georgia’s strategy on the economic corridor.  Cooperation between Japanese companies and Anaklia City has always been on our agenda. As Japanese companies are bringing quality, efficiency and cutting-edge technology anywhere they work, we aim to have as much cooperation with them as possible. This is a very good opportunity for us to use assistance from Japanese Government and to strengthen economic cooperation between Japanese companies and Anaklia Project, thus, Georgia and Japan” – said Ms. Keti Bochorishvili, CEO of Anaklia City. 

“Georgia is well-known in Japan thanks to Sumo wrestler, Tochinoshin. Now we realize that Georgia has great potential to grow as a reginal hub by developing Anaklia Project. We are happy to share our experience to Anaklia City to develop the SEZ in order to attract global investors including Japanese. At the same time, we would like to learn from Georgia how you achieved No. 6 rank in Ease of Doing Business that was higher than most of Asian countries.” - said Mr. Hiroshi Uematsu, CEO of Phnom Penh SEZ Plc.

About Anaklia Special Economic Zone

Anaklia Special Economic Zone will be developed on 400 ha land and employ up to 16 000 people in next 20 years. SEZ will be fully integrated with Anaklia Deepsea port, creating united custom free area and access to multimodal infrastructure: deep sea port, road and railway links to the national networks. The overall concept of Special Economic Zone will enhance different industries such as: logistic, light manufacturing, service, tourism, assembling etc. Dedicated zone for training and development of human resources will help address regional workforce skills development objectives.  As Georgia stands out with ratings in doing business and low total tax rates Anaklia Special Economic Zone will further encourage investors to nurture their businesses in Anaklia. Special Economic Zone connected to the Anaklia Port will offer more such opportunities and will attract both foreign direct investment and domestic investment, create clusters, draw new industries, promote increased economic integration, and generate job creation. Recently Anaklia City and ADB has signed MOU Which aims at studying, identifying and assisting the development of the Anaklia Deepwater Port and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Georgia. The MOU enables ADB and the Anaklia City JSC, to explore opportunities for partnership in the areas of infrastructure, human resource development, financing, and trade facilitation.