On March 31, 2014, ISET hosted Dr. Joseph Tham of Duke University, who is currently collaborating with USAID Georgia. He provided a summary of the basic principles of project appraisal and discussed the applications of Cost-Benefit Analysis in the USAID/India Fiscal Management Reform Project.

The 2012 elections can be regarded as one of the most important events in the political life of Georgia. More so than at any time during the country’s 20-year history of independence, these elections were distinguished by a high level of uncertainty regarding the final results, and fierce competition between the ruling party and its major opponents.

Georgia’s growth performance since independence has gone through extremes, from an unprecedented -44.9 percent in 1992 to 12.3 percent in 2007. Although growth rates temporarily fell in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian war and the world financial crisis they have since then recovered to 7 percent in 2011