The EU is Georgia’s main trading partner. The EU’s aim is for Georgia to be a strong, prosperous, and independent partner, empowered to offer its citizens better opportunities.

The EU particularly supports the Georgian population through the Deep & Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement (DCFTA), which facilitates trade by gradual approximation of Georgia’s rules, procedures, and standards to those of the EU. Since 2014, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) gradually opened up the EU market for Georgian businesses and products.

The EU also supports Georgia with concrete investments as part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. Through Global Gateway, the EU has leveraged €2.1 billion in public and private investments to strengthen digital, energy, and transport connections in Georgia. These investments are aimed to increase trade flows and economic opportunities and ensure more secure and lower-priced energy supplies. Under the strategy, EU flagship initiatives have also supported more than 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to reap the full benefits of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).

SMEs are the backbone of the Georgian economy. In 2023, they accounted for 54% of the value added by all companies and employed 59.6% of the whole workforce. Nevertheless, SMEs in Georgia often face barriers, such as limited access to finance to fund their innovation, transformation or expansion, to knowledge and markets. To help overcome these obstacles, the EU is a strong supporter of businesses in Georgia in both urban and rural areas, and one of the largest external funders of private sector development in Georgia. What the EU offers to SMEs, but also to smallholders, start-ups and individual entrepreneurs, includes financing, grants, direct advice, training, sharing of best practices, peer exchanges and market opportunities. This is coupled with support to young Georgians to foster their entrepreneurial and employability skills and find jobs by better matching their skills to the labour market requirements.

Under the EU4Business initiative, from 2021 to 2023, the EU has supported more than 100,000 SMEs. This created 77,000 new jobs, and generated €550 million in extra income. Thanks to this support, Georgia is witnessing an increasing number of SMEs – aligned with EU standards – emerging in clusters and scaling up. These enterprises are empowered to perform better, innovate, expand internationally, creating jobs for local people, and with increased outputs to the benefit of the Georgian population as a whole. The EU’s support is particularly focused on enabling SMEs to carry out their own green transition and apply sustainable, green and responsible business practices in several sectors, as well as their digital transformation, in line with EU standards. Last but not least, over 40% of the businesses the EU supports are led by women, further advancing gender equality and inclusion.

The EU helps improve social and employment services delivery to vulnerable groups, with a focus on people with disabilities and with a gender approach, development of gender-sensitive digital systems in the fields of social protection and employment.