A warm welcome back to all returning students, faculty, researchers, and staff. Special greetings to our new students who will henceforth be part of our strong academic and professional community. Also, warm welcome to our new and continuing international students and international faculty. We wholeheartedly offer ISET to be your home and family, as is Georgian and ISET tradition. While the ISET community is very diverse, what we all have in common are our core values – dedication to knowledge and education, commitment to professional and personal achievement, and motivation to make a difference in our own lives and lives of others both domestically and globally.

‘Investment in knowledge pays the best interest’ – said Benjamin Franklin long ago, and it has been true for all times. Students – you should be proud of your commitment, as the investment you are making now will benefit you many-fold in the future. We, the faculty and staff of ISET, are here to help guide you toward maximizing the range and value of your opportunities during your time in ISET, so that your investment in knowledge can indeed pay the best interest.

Our institution’s effectiveness in achieving the above is evidenced in the success of our alumni in the past years. I am happy to report that ISET MA class 2019 graduates, who recently walked out of our institute’s doorway, are already on their path towards professional success and have started collecting their ‘return on investment’. Three of them have been admitted to reputable Ph.D. programs in US and Europe; almost 90% of graduates have already found jobs, from which many are employed in the public sector (seven of them in the National Bank of Georgia), while some pursued research and teaching jobs. On behalf of all of us at ISET, I would like to congratulate and wish them and all other alumni of ISET the best of luck!

In today’s context, challenges and opportunities are often closely intertwined. On the one hand, we live in an era of major global volatility – regional conflicts, economic wars between nations, poverty, and devastating natural disasters. Such negative shocks affect the well-being of many households, communities, and entire countries, while lower-income and disadvantaged groups suffer the most. On the other hand, the era in which we live offers unprecedented opportunities through advanced technologies and connectivity, access to knowledge, and continued innovation. These challenges facing modern-day humanity call for the engagement of qualified professionals who care and are dedicated to development with the goal and potential of improving the lives of others. The role of economists in dealing with development challenges and in maximizing global and local development prospects is crucial.

ISET’s tradition is that everyone – faculty, staff, and students - works together in the team spirit to maximize the power of amazing tools of education. Thanks to the staff and faculty of ISET who have practiced and nurtured this institutional tradition of the highest professional standards from year to year. This year again we will spare no effort to make our students’ ISET endeavor a rich experience of relationships with world-class knowledge, reputable professional practices, and high-quality interpersonal exchange in the multicultural environment.

I wish you all a successful and enjoyable 2019-2020 academic year at ISET!

Tamar Sulukhia,

ISET and ISET-PI Director