A delegation from Japan has visited to Georgia in the framework of Japan-Georgia Business Forum, which is organized by the Embassy of Japan in Georgia. Japanese Business delegation, which consists of approximately 20 representatives of different prominent Japanese companies, visited on Tuesday Anaklia construction location and explored works that have been done by the Anaklia Development Consortium.

In May, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan financially supported 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 foreign companies including Japanese companies (manufacturing and logistics sector) as a part of Anaklia Special Economic Zone. Study should elaborate SEZ development plan and a masterplan. In this frame, three parties are involved, Tomonius Co., Ltd. , Phnom Penh SEZ Plc. the partner company in the cooperation and Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. consultant company working on development plan of Anaklia SEZ.

„I am very happy to see that Phnom Pehn SEZ, in tandem with the expert of Nippon Koei, started feasibility study to provide Anaklia City with the relevant advisory service based on its successful experience in operating special economic zone in a capital of Cambodia. I hope this advisory service will contribute to the economic self-development of Georgia and bring positive outcomes for private Japanese companies.” - 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 regional 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.

 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, ADB put Anaklia project in its 2019-2024 strategy as flagship project which enables ADB and the Anaklia City JSC, to explore opportunities for partnership in the areas of infrastructure, human resource development, financing, and trade facilitation.