The country’s extensive mountainous regions are justly famous and a particular point of focus for travel writers and producers, but their touristic appeal is somewhat offset by the lack of development, especially when compared with the capital or other major cities. In recent years, the government has attempted to address this disparity, but a significant amount of work remains to be done.
In September 2015, United Nations member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the “Agenda”) and seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Agenda and the SDGs propose that countries achieve sustainable development in economic, social and environmental dimensions simultaneously.
It is with great sadness that ISET announces an enormous loss to the institution – Mr. Roy Southworth, former Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of the ISET Governing Board, passed away on July 23. He was a most dedicated friend of the broader ISET community, an inspiring development professional, a highly generous contributor, and a brave man with a big heart.
On May 3, the US-based World Resource Initiative (WRI) published ‘How to Enable Electric Bus Adoption In Cities Worldwide’, which examines the process of adopting e-buses in sixteen case study cities. Tbilisi City Hall took the first couple of steps necessary to introduce the first electric bus in 2018 and is expected to scale up the number to 200 from 2020.
In the last two weeks, the lari depreciated, once again, against the US dollar. Georgian currency lost about eight tetri against its American counterpart, causing quite a stir in the media, among political groups and economic experts. While government authorities claimed that the recent developments are short-term fluctuations driven by negative expectations, Turkish lira depreciation, dollar’s global strengthening, and are therefore not connected to the fundamentals of the Georgian economy, the members of the opposition were quick to blame incompetent fiscal and monetary policy.