Director General of ADB Central and West Asia Department: If the situation in the region stabilizes, the factors that have led to Georgia’s high economic growth in recent years may weaken

“If the situation in the region stabilizes, the factors that have led to Georgia’s high economic growth in recent years may weaken in the future,” Eugene Zhukov, Director General of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Central and West Asia Department, said during a media briefing in Milan.

As he noted, Georgia, as well as Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, have seen economic benefits in recent years amid geopolitical tensions, but given that the positive effect may diminish if the situation stabilizes, governments should be careful.

“In Georgia, economic growth has been quite impressive over the past few years. It has averaged almost 9%, and last year it was 9.4%, which is almost double-digit growth. When geopolitical tensions began, we did not know exactly what would happen in terms of economy. We expected that the economies of neighboring countries would shrink, but for certain reasons, the details of which I will not go into at this time, the opposite happened. Many countries in the region, including Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan, have in some way taken advantage of the geopolitical situation and their economic growth has been quite good,” says Eugene Zhukov.

He also noted that at this stage, Georgia’s economic growth is sustainable. The ADB expects growth of 6% this year, although it does not rule out increasing the forecast if such a trend continues.

“I think the latest data shows that economic growth is quite sustainable at this stage. We see rapid growth in the manufacturing sectors of the Georgian economy, and there is also strong dynamics in the tourism sector. However, of course, the factors that have led to high economic growth in Georgia and other countries in recent years may weaken in the future if the situation in the region stabilizes. Therefore, I think that governments should pay attention to this.

As for this year’s forecast, we expect about 6% growth in Georgia. But according to the Georgian Ministry of Finance, at the beginning of the year growth is still almost 9%. If this trend continues, we may have to revise and increase our forecast for Georgia,” said Eugene Zhukov.

The 58th annual meetings are taking place in Milan from May 4 to 7. The main theme of this year’s meeting is “Sharing Experience, Building Tomorrow.”