Irish marketing agency Firstcom has won a contract to develop a "strong creative identity" for a port in Georgia that it is hoped will help revitalise the ancient Silk Road trade route between Europe and China.
Firstcom, led by managing director Conor Bofin, is working with a US-Georgian consortium charged with building and operating the Anaklia deep sea port on the Black Sea coast.
Logistics hub
The government of Georgia awarded a $2.5 billion (€2.2 billion) contract to the
Anaklia Development Consortium
earlier this year as part of efforts to create a regional logistics hub. The ex-Soviet republic, which signed a free trade agreement with the EU in 2014, wants to benefit economically from the route from China to Europe.
Mr Bofin said the brand development contract for the port was “an important win” for the company which is based in Dublin’s Sandyford. Firstcom has been working with the consortium on the infrastructure project in recent months.
A Firstcom video promoting investment opportunities in the area claims shipping times will be “vastly reduced” when the port becomes operational.
The port development is the first in a number of projects planned by the Anaklia Development Consortium, a special purpose vehicle between the Georgian TBC Holding and US group Conti International. The consortium uses a length of red silk in its logo to signify the historic importance of the location.
China is investing $40 billion in a Silk Road infrastructure fund in a bid to resurrect a trading route that once carried treasures between China and the Mediterranean.
