Preparing Qualified Staff should be a Key Investment in Georgia

“Nobody argues that infrastructure development is an important field, and the authorities should resolve this issue. As a result, developed infrastructure will inspire commercial organizations and private entities to arrange new structures and assets. The government should just develop communications. 

For example, in Svaneti, there is no worthwhile internet connection. There is no gas, and roads are in bad conditions. Ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili had a very good plan for building a tunnel from Kutaisi. Without this project, Svaneti will remain in the same condition, and tourists will visit the region only in summer and by foot”, Toyota Center Tbilisi founder Irakli Gurchiani commented on the statement by Werner Liepach, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Director General for Central and West Asia department, regarding the current investment challenges in Georgia. 

Werner Liepach thinks that Georgia has one of the best investment environment, but there are challenges, too, including infrastructure, power issues and human resources. 

Irakli Gurchiani also places focus on infrastructural problems in regions, and names Svaneti. Improved communication will also develop hotels, and local staff will manage to become trained by itself. 

“According to the Mestia development plan, more than 200,000 beds should be arranged, and in this case, a lot of staff  should be invited from other regions. But this will happen only after the main road is developed and the tunnel from Kutaisi is built, which  will make Svaneti very attractive for tourists”, Irakli Gurchiani said. 

Businessman Zurab Chkhaidze, founder of the Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking company (KTW Group), asserts that the training  of human resources is a key challenge. 

“There are many problems in terms of training  of human resources. The government should do its best to train new staff. This should become a challenge for not only the government, but this should be the social responsibility of the population, too. I believe that the training of qualified staff should be a key investment in Georgia. As for infrastructure development, I think huge investments should be made in this field throughout the year. If we want to develop tourism and the regions, we should start with infrastructure development”, Zurab Chkhaidze said.