Deep, Comprehensive and Free Trade With The Euroepan Union For The Agricultural Sector of Georgia, Is it a Threat or an Opportunity Expansion?

Abstract

In the article - "Deep, comprehensive and free trade with the European Union for the agricultural sector of Georgia, is it a threat or an opportunity expansion?" - the question raised is discussed from the perspective of the future development of Georgian agriculture. The article mentions that no country in the world can develop properly without foreign trade. So is Georgia. Therefore, the association agreement signed by the European Union with Georgia gave it wide opportunities to expand trade in the European Union countries and, therefore, to develop the economy. The article mentions that in Georgia agriculture, that is, the agro sector, is considered a priority field. The country should focus on the agricultural sector to expand exports to the European Union. Implementation of this policy has begun, but it faces many obstacles. In the article, it is substantiated by proper calculation that today the agro-food products of Georgia are not competitive in the European Union market. The reason for this is high costs, low quality, small volume of export flows and others. In turn, this is caused by the abundance of small farmers in the agro sector of Georgia, who are easily defeated in the market by large European agro-firms of the same profile. The article ends with the statement that no positive transformation has taken place in the agro-sector of Georgia associating with the European Union. The share of EU markets in its exports is minimal. Moreover, large European Union companies, which have the opportunity to sell products at a low price, are gradually capturing the domestic food market of Georgia. Keywords: Opportunity and threat; Agro-food products; EU market; Concurrency.