Shota Bakhuashvili of the Class of 2017 decided to apply for an MA research scholarship at the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation after listening to an encouraging speech by Professor Norberto Pignatti during a lecture. Shota was ultimately successful, winning 6000 lari that he will use for books, papers, and travel to attend conferences.

On December 12-14, two ISET-PI researchers, Maka Chitanava and Giorgi Mzhavanadze attended the Good Jobs for Inclusive Growth in Central Asia and South Caucasus study finalization conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This study was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and implemented by eight Central Asian and South Caucasus countries.

The Forum took place on 29 November 2016 in the framework of the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) in order to discuss some the key challenges Georgia’s agricultural cooperatives face with regard to access to finance. Please see the conference programme and presentations (listed below).

ISET-PI researchers Irakli Shalikashvili and Salome Deisadze attended the Data for Sustainable Growth in Kyiv between November 17-18. The conference was organized by KSE (Kyiv School of Economics) and was jointly sponsored by UKaid, USAID, the British Embassy in Kyiv, the Embassy of United States, and the Global Development Network.

On November 8-9, the ENPARD team at ISET-PI participated in the 'Interagency Conference about Three Years of Implementation of ENPARD – Cooperative Development Component'. The conference was organized by one of the ENPARD implementer consortiums led by People in Need, a non-governmental organization, at Akaki Tsereteli State University in Kutaisi.