Business Association’s meeting with the Advisor of Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Pertaia

5 Nov '10

On November 5, at Sheraton Metekhi Palace Hotel, members of the BAG met with the Prime Minister's Advisor, Mr. Giorgi Pertaia. Key topic of the meeting was a new Tax Code and subsequent secondary legislation. Namely, the whole set of normative acts need to be developed and passed before the Code becomes effective which should regulate the issues unforeseen in the Code. Mr. Pertaia stressed the fact that already in the course of drafting the Code, Business Association was actively involved in the working process and with its very efforts more than one problematic issue in the Tax Code were solved or reflected in a manner suitable for business. 
The process of drafting of bylaw acts related to the Tax Code has already started and as soon as the respective drafts are ready they will be submitted to businesses for their comments and suggestions. Georgian Small and Medium Enterprises Association (GSMEA) will also engage in this process.
Second part of the meeting was entirely dedicated to special guest, Director of Georgian Security Analysis Center, Mr. David Smith who extensively covered possible outcomes of recent US Congress and Senate elections for Georgia and impact of these outcomes on US foreign or security policies in general. According to him, strategic partnership between Georgia and USA is ongoing and will definitely continue in the future too. Problems faced by Georgia today are mainly caused by geopolitical situation worldwide and specifically in the Caucasus. However, these problems will not be solved soon. Thus, Georgia has significant challenges in order to stably carry on building of democratic state and developing of its economy. 
As for the results of US Senate and Congress elections, Mr. Smith believes that the results of these elections clearly speak of population's critical perception about the government. This perception is largely caused not by foreign political situation but by internal problems and consequently drastic alteration of the US foreign policy priorities or their activation towards some specific areas is unlikely.