A Public Private Dialogue (PPD) took place among representatives of Georgia’s apparel companies, the National Bank of Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, and Georgian National Investment Agency. The purpose of the meeting was to identify major challenges and issues that inhibit successful operation of the apparel industry, as well as ensure a comprehensive understanding of trends, challenges, and solutions.
Participants shared their experience, knowledge, views and concerns, and jointly elaborated recommendations, the successful enactment of which requires support from the Government of Georgia, financial institutions, media and other relevant parties.
The public private dialogue (PPD) pinpointed the apparel sector’s major challenges preventing success. The presence of public sector representatives at the meeting was essential in terms of their contribution to finding solutions. The National Bank of Georgia has agreed to disseminate relevant information arising from the meeting to appropriate bodies.
Important recommendations were proposed at the meeting. Recommendations can be summarized as follows:
- Encourage local apparel companies to participate in different exhibitions to increase their awareness and exposure to international markets, experience, and knowledge;
- Facilitate the formation of a healthy business environment, a pre-condition of which needs to be full support from the government, financial institutions, media and other relevant parties;
- Introduce major changes to the tax system through tax code liberalization and incentives to benefit business development;
- Establish an association to serve as a bridge between companies and the authorities; accountable for ensuring effective communication and timely delivery of key messages such as changes to the tax system, information on export markets, and other relevant topics;
- Enhance the workforce through relevant retraining to increase the competitiveness of local staff, and enable them to operate effectively, not only locally, but also at the international level;
- Facilitate the local companies’ access to raw materials to reduce dependence on imports, and boost performance efficiency;
- Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to support local business development by identifying and attracting markets.