Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Georgia’s Foreign Direct Investments picked up the pace in the third quarter of 2014, according to the country's state statistics office Geostat.

The service revealed that the overall amount of the foreign investments in Georgia grew by 99 percent in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.

The preliminary figures released by the service on December 9 revealed Georgia’s FDI to stand at $508 million during the reported period.

The fields of economy and industry that gained the most offshore investments are construction, transport and communication, manufacturing, finance, energy, hotels and restaurants.

Total FDI in these sectors amounted to $499 million in the third quarter of this year, proving a 69 percent annual growth since the last year.

The largest share of FDI was placed in the construction field, reaching $181 million. The transport and communication sector followed it with $109 million total investments. The next industries to attract investments were real estate with $61 million, manufacturing with $48 million, finance with $38 million, energy with $36 million, hotels and restaurants with $10 million and agriculture with $8 million.

The top investor in Georgia over the given period is China, as the world's strongest economy placed about $149 million in the South Caucasus country' economy.

Nearly $95 million investment in Georgia came from Azerbaijan, making the country the second major investor. Netherlands completed the top three investors with its $90 million overall lodgement.

Moreover, Panama and Malta invested $44 million and $34 million respectively in Georgia.