Georgia: Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Levan Davitashvili, took part in the opening of the Digital Transformation Forum.
The Digital Transformation Forum will be organized by the Georgian ICT Cluster and the Georgian Digital Transformation Consortium with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, USAID Economic Security Program and USAID Economic Governance and more than 20 other partners from June 27 to July 1.
According to the Vice Prime Minister, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has established a Digital Transformation Council with the participation of representatives of the private sector, which is ready to take important and courageous steps at the fastest possible pace to implement digital transformation in the country quickly and correctly.
“We are working with the World Bank to create a document for the development of the digital economy in the country. In this process, it is necessary to involve the state structures fully, as well as to take into account the views of the private sector, which should become the basis for the rapid development of the digital economy in the country. Work on the working version of this document will be completed soon, and we will start an active discussion with the business,” Levan Davitashvili said.
The Minister of Economy focused on the IT business support mechanisms that the government has adopted in recent years. These include tax breaks for technology companies that provide services to clients outside the country, and for such companies, the income tax has been reduced from 20 to 5%, the profit tax has been reduced from 15 to 5%, and the VAT and property tax have been reduced.
According to him, after these tax decisions, such large international companies as “Viber”, “Epami” and “Exadel” entered the country. The Minister also spoke about the decisions taken by the LEPL Innovation and Technology Agency of the Ministry to develop an innovative ecosystem in Georgia and support local startups.
