Georgia expects foreign investment to double to US$1 billion this year, with energy and tourism sectors leading the way, its economy minister Vera Kobalia said last Wednesday.
Foreign direct investment in Georgia fell 16 percent in 2010 year on year to US$553 million, official data shows, well below the US$1 billion target already set for last year. Nevertheless, FDI still accounted for 5 percent of gross domestic product in 2010.
Quadrupling Mongolia’s rail network will send coal, copper and rare earths to Japan and South Korea under a plan to reduce dependence on the Chinese market and boost economic development by lowering transportation costs, local and international media reports.
Sandwiched between Russian and China, Mongolia is about to lay 3,542 miles of track across the country and to Russia’s Far Eastern sea ports.
Mongolia has grown increasingly dependent on commerce with China since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. More than 75 percent of exports went to PRC in 2009, according to European Union figures.