Alexander Benard: Here is the Best Business Environment in the Region and the Opportunities are Vast as Well

Within the frames of the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum, representatives of the leading international organizations and private companies continue to evaluate Georgia’s investment market.

At the Panel “Facilitating Impact Investment”, the Senior Managing Director of Cerberus Frontier, Alexander Benard, highlighted the company’s interest in Georgia and the country’s business-friendly sectors.

The representative the American so-called equity company noted that Georgia has the best business environment in the region and the country is interesting for them. “Cerberus is a large US private equity company, we own businesses in America, we also have stores, hospitals in America, we are shareholders of the Deutsche Bank and the Converse Bank, we have 45 billion businesses in various sectors. My role as of co-founder of the Cerberus  is to discover lesser-known places in the world. I find a country that for some reason is underestimated and does not have relevant investments in the market. We want to find such countries and count on them. I am looking for markets that are far better than the general perception of them. I have found such opportunities in Georgia. Europe knows Georgia better but if you ask people in the US about country Georgia, they would say that it is a small country with difficult neighbors, but when you come here and see for yourself – the situation is different. We believe that we should take this country out of this perception. If you are in a hotel here, you might think that you are in New York or London, the weather is even better if you compare to London. If you talk to the policy makers here, you will see how high the level is. As for business and investments - they have the policy makers that understand the specifics very well. Here is the best business environment in the region. If you are based in Georgia, you have a huge advantage and you can easily reach any other countries. Good regulatory environment, good taxation environment, comfortable quality of life – this is a very attractive place. We find that the opportunities are quite wide here,” – Alexander Benard stated.

Cerberus Frontier representative also cited specific sectors where he sees the business development potential: “We were focusing on the energy sector, but now we are expanding the area, seeing great opportunities in logistics, transport, the hotel business - you probably know that tourism statistics are astronomical. So, there are many opportunities in Georgia and this is a very interesting place for me.”