EU-Georgia Business Forum 2023
With the support of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union, the European Business Association (EBA), in partnership with ProCredit Bank Georgia, organised the “EU-Georgia Business Forum 2023” at Pullman Tbilisi Axis Towers.
John Braeckeveldt, the President of the European Business Association; Shalva Papuashvili, the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; Pawel Herczynski, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia; Maciej Czura, Head of EIB Global Regional Representation for the South Caucasus and Lasha Khutsishvili, the Minister of Finance of Georgia opened the forum and delivered welcome speeches.
The forum brought together leaders from different fields of activity in a single space in order to meet and establish business relations, discuss current challenges and summarise all the achievements in the business sector. The event featured the presentation of the EU Business Climate Report 2023, prepared by the European Business Association and supported by the European Union, which summarises the future steps of the country's development and assesses the reforms from the perspective of both public and private sector representatives.
The presentation was followed by the panel discussion on the “Access to Finance” topic participated by the decision makers from the European business community in Georgia, government officials, and international experts. The panellists reviewed the main findings of the presented report, the challenges related to access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, the importance of proper regulatory framework, trade-related business issues, and the European association process in Georgia. A particular emphasis was placed on the success achieved towards European integration and the importance of the active involvement of the business sector in this direction. Participants also highlighted the role of business support organisations in terms of providing a platform for public-private dialogue and the need to share successful practices in this regard.
The members of the EBA, European Economic Cooperation Platform (EECP), Georgian Parliament, government representatives, private sector, diplomatic corps, international organisations, and financial institutions; decision-makers and partners of ProCredit Bank attended the forum.
The Trade show of successful European companies’ products also took place simultaneously. Thirty companies from different sectors and industries had the opportunity to exhibit materials and introduce their organisations to the attendees. A specially arranged space was dedicated to business-to-business (B2B) meetings where forum participants could establish business contacts and discuss possible cooperation scenarios.
The EU-Georgia Business Forum was established last year as the main business event of the year in Georgia. The first-ever presentation of the European Economic Cooperation Platform, EECP, occurred during the 2022 Forum as well as the EU Business Climate Report publication. This year, the event was held on a much larger scale, bringing together up to 300 participants from various sectors and industries.
The event was organised by the EBA in cooperation with the EECP Platform.
Main sponsor of the forum – European Investment Bank (EIB)