President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili

It is truly a big occurrence that the “Silk Road Group” and the Trump Organization are starting to implement this project together.

The main preparatory work will be finished by the end of the year and we will move on to the next stage of construction.

This place is being changed completely and there will also be a Trump Tower yacht club here and the world’s largest cruise company “Royal Caribbean” will build a new seaport behind it. 50 story buildings are being built as well.

Georgia is for now, the only place on the Black Sea which the “Royal Caribbean” company is entering.

We are a country, which does not have big reserves of oil and gas, but the Georgian phenomenon is the fact that in this small country, of a geopolitically tough region, 21^st century’s miracles are being built. Such prominent people are arriving in Georgia – there is no bigger name in this sphere than Donald Trump.

I think that the main resources of Georgia is our people. The main resources of Batumi are Adjarians and our main goal is to create a bright future for these people.

The International Finance Corporation recently administered a study according to which 75% of all Georgian businessmen are satisfied with the business climate in the country.

This is one of the highest indicators around the world, but the most important thing here is that 0.1% of the surveyed people have been touched by corruption.

7-8 years ago 99% of people said otherwise…

This is exactly the main change which has been implemented in Georgia.

We have a government that is helping businesses and creating equal conditions for everyone.

Georgia has a government, which gives the entire society an opportunity to become representatives of business and not their relatives.

There are laws in Georgia, which protect everyone and Georgia has a good name despite the fact that outside forces are trying to undermine it.

Georgia is becoming a bright star for the entire region in terms of development and offering a better future.

This is what’s happening in Georgia and that’s what a huge occurrence means.

I visited the Kiriak Zavriev laboratory in Tbilisi yesterday and saw the new construction institute, which is inspecting construction quality.

As I was told there, the number of orders has increased 8 times in the last 3 years.

In Batumi alone, 2 million square meters of space is being built, which means that more is being built than in the last 150 years together.

Georgia is an ancient country and in none of its history has so much been built as in the last several years.

Our resource is free economy, a free political system, and absence of corruption as well as effective government and very talented people.

Of course there is still a lot of poverty and people who need assistance in Batumi.

Last year 2 million tourists visited Georgia and I predict that this year we will have even more. Moreover, I think that we will have 5 million tourists steadily every year in 4-5 years.

Batumi will become not only the best city on the Black Sea, but as we planned from the beginning, the most beautiful and successful place in Eastern Europe and the surrounding countries.

By the way, it is not coincidental that aside from Turkey, there is no place in continental Europe where the Trump Organization has participated in any investment project and there are no buildings with the Trump name there.

In this sense Georgia is the first country in continental Europe.

It is also not a coincidence that the largest shopping mall in continental Europe, after Turkey,  was opened in Georgia.

At a time when we face big poverty and many geopolitical risks, this is happening in Georgia precisely because our country has a chance of becoming a regional hub and one of the largest centers in terms of trade, logistics, and technology.

There is also an American style Batumi Technological University being built, which will be one of our main symbols. If you look at it now, you will not be impressed, but it will be twice as high and functional at the end of September.

The construction of this university goes on day and night because we cannot afford to lose time.

This is the time for construction.

The largest constructor and a developer – Donald Trump has visited Georgia. This is not just a big name but a big personality as well.

There are big names, which are products of PR and there are persons, who correspond to their names well.

His personality is even bigger than his name.

Donald Trump is a person, who has an incredible ability of foreseeing things.

The new America is practically built by him.

America is a new country and when somebody is building a new country this ability is absolutely necessary.

Georgia is an ancient country but we too need to rebuild our state.

That’s why if anybody has such ability in this sphere, if anybody’s arrival is considered the success of a country, if anybody is compatible with our philosophy about people, who constantly risks and is not influenced by pessimists - it’s Donald Trump.

People declared many times that his business was done, but he never gave up and in every case he restored everything he had lost.

He knows exactly what he wants and nothing will stop him in the process of reaching his goals.

All of this is very familiar and acceptable for me.

We have spent the last two days together and this was a great experience for me because a very important figure has arrived in Georgia.

I would like to give him the floor.

We are beginning this large construction in several months, but everything else around is also being built and as I said, we are going to turn this city into the Singapore of the Black Sea or a better place, which will be distinguished by its riches, prosperous families, and the best prospects for future generations.

This is not just my ambition, but a realistic goal and the presence of Donald Trump here is one of the guarantees of its implementation.

President of the Trump Organization Donald Trump

Thank you very much Mr. President. It’s an honor to be here.

It will be something very special. I have to start by congratulating Georgia and your entire team. I’ve gotten to know George very well over the last year and he just doesn’t stop. He wants to make this special. He wants to make it great and that’s why with Michael Cohen and my entire staff we decided to go forward. We are really looking forward to it and it’s becoming even greater than we thought and John, the architect and your entire staff have been amazing.  

We will all admit that the most amazing is the job the President has done in Georgia and it’s such a honor for people who live in Georgia. You may be taking for granted what’s happening and I will tell you outside this area, everybody in the world, they speak of Georgia and the great miracle that’s taking place. It’s lead by the President so I just want to congratulate you; you are doing an amazing job. You are a big man outside of this area. Believe me. They are studying you, they are writing books on him.

So it’s my honor and I look forward to coming back many, many times. We had a fantastic evening last night, this so much life, this so much activity and I will be here for many, many more times. This is going to be something that’s very, very special and again John and George and everybody I’m congratulating you, but most especially Mr. President, congratulations and I’ll see you soon.

Thank you!

Thank you everybody!