Back in October 2014, soon after the introduction of new visa regulations by the Georgian government, I visited Seoul, the capital of South Korea. An unpleasant surprise awaited me on the way back home at the Seoul airport. The young stewardess checked my (Israeli) passport and informed me that, according to the system, I will not be allowed to board the flight (to Istanbul) unless I show a Georgian residence card or buy a return ticket.

The 17th Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, held March 14-18, 2016, at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C., gathered stakeholders from government, the development community, private sector, and academia to discuss land policy issues worldwide. ISET-PI was represented by Pati Mamardashvili, head of our Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC).

The Investor Council (IC), coordinated by the EBRD, has been established in 2015 to provide a dialog platform between Georgia’s major business associations and government. Co-chaired by Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili and EBRD Director for the South Caucasus, Belarus, and Moldova, Bruno Balvanera, IC’s February 17 meeting focused on three key issues.

Once again, Georgians across the country are preparing for the holiday season, making travel plans, crushing walnuts for gozinaki, and buying gifts for their friends and families. Gifts are an important part of celebrating the New Year and Christmas, signifying the importance of friendship and allowing us to treat our loved ones to something to start a brand new year in style.

Rati, Lasha, and Irakli are first-year engineering students at the Georgian Technical University (GTU). Rather unusual students, one should add. At 22-23, all three are very much alive. Yet, they never attend classes and are not taking exams. BSc in engineering would be their third educational degree, yet neither one of them has any intention of completing his studies at GTU. And one more interesting detail: their ‘studies’ at GTU are paid for by the Georgian taxpayers because engineering (as well as mathematics and natural sciences) is considered to be a priority subject by the Georgian government.