You're reading: Saakashvili proclaims new economic course in Georgia

Tbilisi, December 3 (Interfax) - Georgia is beginning a new economic course aimed at developing business and the business environment as much as possible, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at the opening ceremony of an economic registration area at the Lilo customs outside Tbilisi on Friday.

"We are announcing a new economic course today, whose purpose is to fully overcome the existing shortcomings and create a much better business environment in Georgia," Saakashvili said.

In particular, the enactment of a new tax code should reduce administrative pressure on producers and introduce a mechanism of preliminary warnings, he said.

"The tax ombudsman institution is to start working, so that producers feel better protected," Saakashvili said.

Businessmen’s mistakes should not lead to the closure and destruction of their enterprises, Saakashvili said. "Even when the owner of a facility commits concrete violations, perhaps deliberately, the facility should not be shut down, so that people won’t be left without a piece of bread," he said.

The customs infrastructure should continue to develop to facilitate customs procedures, reduce red tape, and minimize time wasting, he said.

"According to the new rules, the customs clearance tariffs in Georgia will be halved and, however difficult it is to believe that, the customs clearance procedure will last one hour at most," Saakashvili said.