Various types of meetings, including Business and Economic Forums, encourage bringing people together and cooperate. The Business Forum is one of the effective ways for companies and businessmen who want to acquire new partners and meet new investors. In addition, it helps to deepen economic and trade relations between different countries. Especially among those countries which are just starting to cooperate in various fields of the economy or have a short history of cooperation.
Georgia and the countries of the Persian Gulf have a history of around 30 years of economic and diplomatic relations. However, economic cooperation between them started later, in the 2010s. As a result of this, it is important to organize various business, trade, and economic forums in ordert to maintain and deepen these relations.
It is especially important to deepen trade and economic relations between Georgia and such countries of the Persian Gulf as: Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.
Deepening cooperation between Georgia and the countries of the Persian Gulf started back in 2017, when Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, the General Secretary of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), visited Georgia and met with the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Mikheil Janelidze. At this meeting, the secretary emphasized the fact that Georgia is an interesting country for the Persian Gulf countries in terms of investment. However, the Covid pandemic has halted business development worldwide, and to restore pre-Covid relations, it is important to hold business forums, because there is a chance to further deepen the economic relations between Georgia and the countries of the Persian Gulf in various sectors of the economy: tourism, construction, and logistics, due to strategic location of Georgia, etc.
The importance of Business and Economic Forums for the deepening of economic relations between Georgia and Qatar was emphasized by the Qatar Economic Forum, which was held on June 20-22 this year in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Based on the fact that on June 21, 2022, Georgia and Qatar signed bilateral agreements, which imply the deepening of trade and economic relations between the two countries. The agreement was signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, and CEO Director of Qatar Investment Authority, Mr. Mansoor Bin Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud, and the meeting between them took place within the framework of Qatar’s economic forum[1].
As for Kuwait, this year Georgia and Kuwait mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In the first years of the establishment of diplomatic relations, deepening economic and political cooperation between the two countries started. This was especially facilitated by the good investment climate in Georgia in the recent years. Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has already implemented several projects in Georgia. In addition, it is planned to deepen cooperation[2] between the investment agencies of Kuwait and Georgia. Holding economic forums will contribute to the implementation of this idea to a large extent, at such a forum both sides will have the opportunity to discuss the details of future cooperation more scrupulously.
Bahrain has the most diversified economy among the Persian Gulf countries. Therefore, the number of areas in which Georgia and Bahrain can cooperate is wide. Despite this, trade and economic relations between these two countries are at an early stage of development. Its further development requires more effort and holding various events, including business forums, in order to establish close economic ties between these two countries, which will be ultimately beneficial for both countries.
Finally, it can be said that for the further development of economic relations between Georgia and the countries of the Persian Gulf (Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain), it is necessary to organize more frequent (regular) business, trade, and economic forums, which will allow the representatives of these countries to meet each other and establish strong bilateral relations.
[1] Georgia, Qatar sign agreements to boost trade, economic relations, Agenda. Ge. Available at: https://agenda.ge/en/news/2022/2361, (Accssed:01.07.2022).
[2] Kuwait-Georgian relations on an upswing, Times Kuwait, 21.05.2022, Available at: https://timeskuwait.com/news/kuwait-georgia-relations-on-an-upswing/, (Accssed:01.07.2022).