Georgia`s Historical, Natural and Geographical State Function

2026-06-07

Three global visions unite the Silk Road gateway Georgia. These are: the trade diplomacy of the Dutch, the logistics infrastructure of the Emirates and the British business law. The global advantage of each of them lies in the strength of its own economic history and economic geography.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange Euronext Amsterdam — the cradle of modern capital markets and a historical symbol of Dutch trading experience and international commerce.

The Dubai Stock Exchange Dubai Financial Market (DFM) — a center connecting the Middle East and global capital. Compliance with the principles of Sharia (Islamic finance) is one of its distinctive features.

The power of the London Stock Exchange lies not only in the volume of capital, but also in the trust that the British legal system and the financial center of London create.

Parallels with Georgia

Georgian trade diplomacy

It is known that in the 12th century, David the Builder created favorable conditions for foreign investors. Among them, he introduced tax breaks for foreign merchants. Also known is the proposal of the first Georgian diplomat to Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles in the 17th century. Sulkhan-Saba had a proposal to transport Persian silk to Armenian merchants through Georgia to Smyrna, which would shorten the journey by 3/4. On the way back, they would sell their own Maud products to the French.

In 13th-century Tbilisi, a guild-like association of merchants was called Ortaghi. Its members participated in international trade and credit operations. Later, in the 17th-18th centuries, the Georgian merchant union involved in foreign trade was headed by the Karavanbashi. Since 1875, merchant corporations and guild unions were created. In 1880, 49 merchant-industrialists of the 1st guild and 1003 merchants of the 2nd guild were registered in Tbilisi.

European missionaries and diplomats of the 16th-18th centuries confirm in writing the special activity of Georgian merchants in Yerevan, Ganja, Gilan, Isfahan, Astrakhan, Erzurum, Kaffa, Constantinople, Trebizond... A well-known fact of the years 1815-1820 is the trip of the Georgian prince Rafiel Danibegashvili to India to negotiate with the great merchants. In the 17th-18th centuries, a great merchant was called a "great merchant". A merchant who was personally free, owned a large estate, and was mainly engaged in caravan trade with other countries.

Georgian logistics infrastructure

In ancient times, Phasis was a port for Phoenician and Genoese merchants. This is the modern port of Poti... The trade and caravan route from Turkey to Georgia was called Gurji-Bogaz (Georgian: Throat of Georgia). This is the modern Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway... In 1860, the German Siemens brothers laid the first telegraph line through Georgia, starting from London. This is the modern Black Sea Green Cable... In 1872-1885, Baku oil was transported via the Tbilisi-Poti railway. This is the modern Baku-Supsi oil pipeline.

Speaking of infrastructure, it is worth mentioning that Niko Nikoladze, the builder of the Georgian sea gate in Poti, voiced the idea in 1871 - to restore the oldest and shortest trade route from Europe to Asia passing through Georgia, along the updated route: Berlin - Poti - Beijing.

Georgian trade diplomacy and logistics infrastructure brought together

Akaki Khoshtaria, a Georgian financier, industrialist and philanthropist, acquired oil concessions in Persia before the First World War and established a large industrial company in Baku, "Rupento", which conducted trade operations in the South Caucasus and Iran. He also founded the "Khoshtaria Bank" in Baku, which conducted financial combinations with leading countries of the world. Through his entrepreneurial and trade activities, he gained great influence at the court of the Shah of Iran. Khoshtaria was called the "Uncrowned Shah of Iran." The Ford car he brought to Tehran as a gift to Ahmad Shah had golden wings as a decoration. He did business in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran. He founded a transportation company in Tehran. He owned his own workshops, electric-powered factories, and a special railway line, which was the first railway line in Iran.

Khoshtaria's extraordinary event is an unparalleled combination of trade diplomacy and logistics infrastructure.

The Arab Stock Exchange and a Parallel with Georgia

If the London Stock Exchange is distinguished by British business law, and the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by its trading history, one of the unique features of the Dubai Stock Exchange is the combination of modern global finance and Islamic finance based on Sharia. Which takes into account the sectors restricted by Islamic law.

On the 10th century silver coin of the first king of united Georgia, Bagrat III, the glorifications of Christ and Allah are depicted together in Arabic. There is no similar case of harmonization of Islam and Christianity in any culture. This is also a historical example from Georgia, the merging of Islamic and global capitals on the Dubai Stock Exchange.

Georgian Business Law

Ilia Chavchavadze, as a true leader of the Georgian nation, is himself a special phenomenon of Georgian business law. Before his many years of leadership of the Tbilisi Noble Bank, he was a conciliatory judge. Ilia's pen also embodied the idea of ​​private property and the liberalization of trade. In modern Georgia, the professional days of a banker and a lawyer are celebrated together, on the same date - November 8. Because for Ilia, business and law have never been inseparable.

P.S.

Georgian writer Grigol Robakidze: "Western Europe is precious, but we cannot give up the East for Europe, it would be better to pay for their wedding with a Georgian feast."

Robakidze's "precious Western Europe" is precisely the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with the corresponding trade diplomacy and business law. The "unconquerable Middle East" is indeed the United Arab Emirates, with a high index of logistical efficiency.

The "Georgian wedding feast" of Dutch trade diplomacy, Emirati logistics infrastructure and British business law requires a high-class, modern, independent and free "Tbilisi Stock Exchange".

Zurab Maghradze, Ph.D.