In December 2014 ISET-PI has been awarded a 5-year grant by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) providing the Institute with the opportunity to transform itself into the premier economic policy think-tank in the South Caucasus.

In cooperation with the German Economic Team Georgia (GET Georgia) and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, ISET-PI is offering a course in Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for Government Professionals. The course has been designed for economists in Georgian ministries who evaluate investment projects. Participants will learn how to design and conduct a CBA.

The aim of the project was developing a medium-term debt management strategy (MTDS) and looking into institutional arrangements, debt monitoring and forecasting practices, analytical capacity in external and domestic borrowing, preliminary fiscal transparency evaluation, and improve communication with domestic stakeholders in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance's Public Debt and External Financing Department (PDEFD) and with other relevant stakeholders.

ISET continued its Distinguished Professors Lecture Series, which it runs in cooperation with Tbilisi State University, on Thursday, January 29th. In this installment of the series, ISET hosted Professor Ramaz Kurdadze, Head of the Institute of the Georgian Language at Faculty of Humanities and Member of the Academic Board of Tbilisi State University.

There are many reasons to love the concept of farmer cooperation (and cooperation more generally). To begin with, there is a great aesthetic value in seeing people coming together, sharing resources, and helping each other. After all, instinctive collectivism was the basic condition of human existence from time immemorial. But, there are also powerful economic reasons for farmer cooperation.