On 23 May 2017, a meeting was held between the Ministers of Economy of Georgia and Turkey. The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, stated

at the meeting that Turkey is one of Georgia’s most important partners in terms of investments. According to the Minister’s information, the amount of investments from Turkey was USD 73 million in 2015 which is 15% more as compared to 2014. At the same time, according to the preliminarny data for 2016, the amount of investments from Turkey reached USD 272 million which is 275% more (four times larger) as compared to the figure for 2015 and constitutes 17% of all investments made in Georgia that year.

FactCheck

took interest in the accuracy of the statement.

According to the data for last year, Georgia’s largest partner nations in terms of investments are:  Azerbaijan, Turkey, UK, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Panama, USA and Cyprus. As of 2016, Turkey is 2^nd

in the ranking.

Table 1:

 Major Direct Investor Countries to Georgia, USD Million

Country	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Azerbaijan	59	82	341	550	578
Turkey	81	43	63	73	272
UK	94	55	108	386	121
Netherlands	35	153	374	155	95
Czech Republic	8	44	52	17	93
Luxembourg	42	143	110	106	79
Panama	10	26	71	10	78
USA	20	45	182	18	45
Cyprus	39	-106	-5	-29	38

Source: National Statistics Office of Georgia  

According to the data for 2015, the amount of investments from Turkey was USD 73 million which is 15% more as compared to 2014. Additionally, according to the preliminary data for 2016, the amount of investments from Turkey reached USD 272 million which is 275% (3.72 times) more as compared to 2015.

Graph 1:

 Turkey’s Foreign Direct Investments in Georgia in USD Million and Growth Rate

   Source: National Statistics Office of Georgia

In regard to the share of Turkey’s foreign direct investments (FDI) in the total amount of FDI made in Georgia, this figure was indeed 17% in 2016.

Foreign direct investments from Turkey are mostly related to the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the construction of the Shah Deniz 2 pipeline or other projects implemented in the field of energy.

Conclusion

Giorgi Gakharia names the Turkish foreign direct investment related figures correctly in most of the cases. As for the statistics for 2015, the amount of investments from Turkey was USD 73 million which is 15% more as compared to 2014 whilst the amount of Turkey’s FDI reached USD 272 million according to the preliminary data for 2016 which is 275% more as compared to the figure for 2015 and constitutes 17% of all investments made in Georgia in 2016.

FactCheck concludes that Giorgi Gakharia’s statement is TRUE.