Trammo Senior Vice President: Georgia is Comfortable in Terms of Ease of Doing Business
William Markstein, the Senior Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of the Trammo, at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum Panel Discussion: Invest2Succeed, Session I - Georgia Rising - Facilitating Impact Investment, talked about the prospects of establishing logistic hub in Batumi.
William Markstein explained that he meant the freight transportation from Central Asia to Batumi via the Baku Railways. According to the businessman, the project is already under elaboration and he is confident that the route will be stable. “This is a very good project. As you know, the political situation in Iran and volatile countries is difficult and we are confident that this route will be stable,” – Markstein said.
According to William Markstein, Georgia’s strategic location makes it very attractive and promising from an investment perspective, especially for the transit routes between Asia and Europe. However, he said, there are already two new plant projects in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan: “Five million tons will soon exceed seven million tons, and this cargo awaits entry to the global market - via the Caspian Sea and Georgia. In terms of the railway system, the infrastructure is good. We know that it will be very credible for our project to create logistics hubs - we want to create them in Baku and Batumi. I would also like to point out that this is a stable and efficient trading route; you can count on suppliers to continue to transport products after production - this is a very important investment factor for us,” – William Markstein explained.
Vice President of Trammo also evaluated the business climate in Georgia. “Another issue is the business climate in general - I am the Chairman of the Investment Committee and the question of our governance is always the same: What is the situation in Georgia in terms of corruption and stability? Of course, it’s important to see the improvements as well as Georgia’s place in the global ratings, the fact that it is free from corruption and is a comfortable country in terms of doing business,” – William Markstein said.