One day in my village, I saw our neighbors carrying TV sets, refrigerators, parabolic antennas, and washing machines out of their house. Soon I found out that they were hiding all that stuff from the Social Service Agency (SSA) that was about to check eligibility for social benefits. Later, when I spoke with some other villagers, it turned out that some families had even sold their cows to become eligible for social assistance.
Since the outbreaks of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1900s and the global financial turmoil in 2007, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a financial sector based on a set of financial indicators has become increasingly important.
On May 22, ISET hosted Mamuka Khazaradze, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TBC Bank, who talked about the story of his success in business, particularly the establishment of TBC (Tbilisi Business Center) Bank in Georgia.
The subject of the debate concerned future steps to be taken in to ensure the growth of SME's in Georgia - significant part of the economy. The expert panel included speakers representing government, SMEs, financial system, academia, NGOs, businesses and business associations. The importance of SMEs for economic development cannot be understated: most successful large firms in developing countries have graduated up from SME category, whereas the breadth of the SME category itself reflects and helps to create a strong and deep entrepreneurial culture.
ISET will be offering an exciting new course in the 5th mini-term – “Corporate Finance Applied to a Developing Economy.” The course will be taught by Paul-Henri Forestier, former Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Georgia.