With the motivation to draw more FDI from foreign markets, in particular from UAE, FADY ASLY, Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) recently founded an international consultancy firm - Channel Georgia FZC. Property Georgia interviwed Mr. Asly regarding Georgia's investment climate and the role the firm he founded will play in Georgia - UAE business relations.
- Channel Georgia FZC is a brand-new unique International Consultancy Firm based in the UAE. What is the main goal of the company? Channel Georgia is a unique consultancy firm based in the UAE with three main goals: 1- Facilitate the exports of Georgian products and produce to all the Arab countries of the GCC 2- Bring in Investors from the GCC countries into Georgia 3- Create an Investment Fund exclusively for Georgia
- Why UAE and Georgia? What are the concrete projects you, as the founder, have set for implementation in short/mid/long term perspective? We chose the UAE because among all other countries of the GCC the UAE are the most business friendly. In addition there is a serious interest from the UAE and other countries of the GCC in Georgia. Georgia is looking for FDI and the GCC countries are loaded with capital that don’t know where to go and therefore Georgia should be a great recipient for such capital considering the amazing opportunities and good business climate in the country. On the short term we are helping Georgian exporters to register their products in the GCC, find distributors and put their export machine in motion. We are also identifying the most serious opportunities for investment and talking with high net worth individuals in the GCC to put them on board. On the medium term we will have an Investment fund of about one hundred million US Dollars earmarked for Georgia.
- Which sectors are UAE investors interested in Georgia most and how promising could Emirates market be for our country in regards to export?
UAE investors are mainly focusing on hospitality business and real estate opportunities and some agriculture projects. As for exports it is vital for Georgia to open new markets and reduce the gap of the trade balance. Export markets are not only limited to the UAE but include as well Saudi Arabia and the other GCC countries.
- Will Georgia FZC work with government circles, both Georgians and UAE officials? If yes, what are the urgent topics on agenda? Technically Channel Georgia FZC plays the role of the Georgian Investment Agency in the UAE and therefore we keep very close working relation with both Georgian and UAE authorities to catalyze business between both countries.
- Channel Georgia FZC partners are famous business people, how do you find them and what’s their motivation for joining the company? Channel Georgia is structured in a unique way compared to other consultancy firms; we have divided the responsibilities by sectors of the economy like energy, real estate, banking and financial services, agriculture, tourism etc… Each sector is handled by a partner that is the best in their field, this is a guarantee of seriousness and success. We took the best professionals for each sector; all of them are famous businesspeople with great experience. We don’t believe in theoreticians we believe in practitioners who operate businesses on the ground; all our partners are businesspeople and among the most successful in what they do.
- What is a geographical and sectorial scope of your consultancy business? We cover all the countries of the GCC like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Oman and the fields that we cover are agriculture, energy, banking and financial services, real estate, tourism, water treatment technologies, franchising, trade and transportation. In addition to that we have business development and market research partners of the highest level.
- Passion To Shine – what is meant under Channel Georgia’s mission statement?
Well “Passion to Shine” is the motto of our firm, it was inspired to me by one of my quotes in the book that I wrote, “Life with Scorpions”; this quote is one of the many lessons that I have learned in life and it says:
“ I have learned that if we are very good at our job we will succeed but if we want to shine we need to have passion” At Channel Georgia FZC we all have passion for our job, that’s why we shine at what we do!
