2023 ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Tbilisi conducted an economic survey on the financial year and the expectations of Austrian subsidiaries in Georgia. We are pleased to share the results of the survey with you and thank all the executives who participated in our survey for their time and valuable opinions.
Status Quo
As for the overall economic situation in the country, 40 % of the surveyed executives believe that the economy has improved over the past 12 months, 40 % think it has deteriorated, and 20 % say it has stayed the same. Over the past year, the number of people employed in the surveyed enterprises have increased for 60 % of respondents and have stayed the same for 20 %. In terms of the company’s orders, 40 % responded that they have stayed the same compared to the previous year, 20 % think they have increased and 20 % say they have decreased. In terms of total annual revenue, 80 % of executives have reported an increase and 20 % have not noticed any changes.
Investment
Regarding investments the opinions are quite divided as 40 % say they have increased while at the same time 40 % say they have decreased. In terms of capacity utilization, 40 % of executives have reported an increase and 40 % a steady figure.
Market Conditions and Regulations
According to the executives, labour costs were rated as quite good by 80 % of respondents, while 20 % of respondents had a negative opinion towards labour costs. The fight against crime and corruption as well as the predictability of economic policy are rated quite positive by 60 % of the representatives while 40% think it is quite bad. Bureaucracy is viewed quite negatively by 60 % while 40 % think it is quite good. When it comes to infrastructure, most executives believe that Georgia has a quite bad infrastructure but is quite successful in terms of digitalization. Respondents generally rated purchasing power as weak and had largely a negative opinion about the costs of raw materials. Around 60 % of the representatives think quite positive about the political stability while 40 % think it is quite bad. However, the availability of credit and the capital market access is seen quite good from all surveyed executives. Furthermore, the executives stated that they are generally not really satisfied with the Georgian suppliers as well as their understanding of quality.
Expectations for the next years
Around 40 % of executives expect business to improve over the next 12 months. Whereas 20 % think it will stay the same and another 20 % say it will decrease. Regarding the workforce size, 60 % believe it will increase and 40 % say it will remain constant. All the surveyed executives expect their total revenue to increase in the coming year. While 40% of the managers expect investments to remain constant, 40 % believe they will increase and 20 % think they will decrease. Expectations for capacity utilization are as followed: 60 % believe it will increase while 40 % expect them to stay the same.
