Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said on the 23rd that it held an opening ceremony for the Tbilisi trade office in Tbilisi, Georgia, on the 21st (local time) and began full-fledged export support operations.

On the 21st in Tbilisi, Georgia, key figures pose for a commemorative photo at the KOTRA Tbilisi Trade Center opening ceremony. From left: Kim Hyeong-shin, Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) Georgia head; Kim Hyun-doo, Ambassador to Georgia; Kang Kyung-sung, KOTRA President; Tamar Ioseliani, Georgia Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development; Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili, Georgia Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Magda Bolotashvili, Vice Chair of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. /Courtesy of KOTRA

The Tbilisi trade office is Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA)'s 130th overseas trade office. With this opening, domestic corporations have secured a bridgehead to enter the Caucasus region connecting Europe and Asia. Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) plans to accelerate development of Global South markets and export diversification through the opening of the Tbilisi trade office.

Georgia is a small country with a population of 3.66 million, but it is located at a key logistics and trade hub spanning the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), giving it access to a substantial hinterland market. The Georgian government also aims to be a free trade hub connecting Europe and the CIS and is proactive in working with major trading partners such as Korea.

In particular, since the Russia-Ukraine war, the "Middle Corridor" running from China to Central Asia to Georgia to the Black Sea to Europe has emerged as a new international logistics axis, drawing increased attention from the international community to Georgia. The World Bank (WB) projected that by 2030, cargo volume along the Middle Corridor will expand to 11 million tons, three times the current level.

Korea and Georgia concluded an economic partnership agreement (EPA) last year and agreed to eliminate tariffs on more than 90% of items within 10 years. As a result, exports of not only automobiles—the top export item to Georgia for domestic corporations—but also consumer goods are expected to increase.

Kang Kyung-sung, president of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), said, "We will make every effort to serve as a forward outpost on the ground so that our corporations can pioneer the new market of Georgia and identify new opportunities between the two countries, with the Tbilisi trade office at the center."

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