In Georgia’s expanding portfolio of free trade agreements, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) remains underexplored but highly strategic. Partnering with high-income countries like Switzerland and Norway – known for their advanced services and demand for quality, the EFTA-Georgia Free Trade Agreement offers unique advantages for Georgian businesses.
The EFTA-Georgia Free Trade Agreement was signed on 27 June 2016 and entered into force on a rolling basis: in September 2017 for Norway and Iceland, and in May 2018 for Switzerland and Liechtenstein.The agreement liberalizes trade in goods and services, protects intellectual property rights, improves transparency in public procurement and creates a framework for working together on sustainable development.
Georgia’s trade with EFTA states, especially Switzerland and Norway, has grown significantly since the agreement’s ratification. Bilateral trade volume surged from approximately USD 53 million in 2015 to EUR 175.5 million by 2024, representing a compound annual growth rate of over 20%.
Georgia’s exports to Switzerland have been dominated by knitted apparel, nuts, wine, and metal products, while imports include pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery, and precision instruments. Although trade volume with EFTA is lower than with the EU or Turkey, the value per ton is significantly higher, indicating that the goods exchanged are of higher quality and that EFTA consumers have greater purchasing power.
What’s more, unlike Georgia’s Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU, the EFTA-Georgia Free Trade Agreement is easier to follow and more WTO-based, meaning it imposes fewer regulatory harmonization obligations, which helps Georgian exporters meet requirements more easily.
For instance, in a decade, the export of agri-food products has indeed increased by 147%.This means that the amount of Georgian food that met above-said standards increased significantly, meaning more products could legally enter and compete in the EU market, reinforcing the strength of Georgia-EU trade.
What distinguishes the EFTA agreement is not the volume of trade, but its high value. Switzerland and Norway rank among the top 5 countries globally by GDP per capita. Their markets offer:
In addition, the agreement promotes bilateral investment through protection clauses and clear ways to resolve disputes. These measures are important for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) from EFTA companies looking for cost-effective production or access to the South Caucasus market.
Despite its benefits, Georgian businesses have underutilized the EFTA-Georgia Free Trade Agreement. Key obstacles include limited awareness of the EFTA agreement among SMEs and exporters, especially those outside Tbilisi, insufficient institutional support to help businesses meet EFTA-specific standards such as packaging, certifications, and rules of origin and fragmented value chains that make it difficult to increase production to the quality and volume required by EFTA importers. However, public-private seminars and cooperation projects, such as the 2018 trade promotion seminar in Tbilisi organized by SECO and Georgia’s Ministry of Economy, aim to close these gaps.
This export has been allowed from 2021. According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia, In 2023 about 21 tons of snails were exported, which were worth 190.50 thousand dollars. These examples reflect the expanding depth and diversity of Georgia-EU trade.
For the Spanish-Georgian Business Alliance, the EFTA-Georgia Free Trade Agreement adds important support to Georgia’s other trade agreements. While the DCFTA grants access to the EU, the EFTA agreement provides a niche platform for high-margin exports and services in specialized sectors such as: wine and agri-food products, professional services and tourism ventures and collaborative investment projects. As a strategic facilitator of trade and investment between Georgian and European markets, the Spanish-Georgian Business Alliance (SGBA) is well-positioned to increase the benefits of the EFTA-Georgia Free Trade Agreement. SGBA can act as a vital connector, bridging Georgian producers with high-value Swiss and Norwegian markets, and informing Foreign stakeholders about untapped opportunities in the Caucasus.