After many years on the back burner of the policy discussion in Georgia, issues related to agriculture and rural development now seem to be at the forefront of debate. And for good reason, as these issues are incredibly complex and have important implications, not only for those residing in rural areas but also for those purchasing agricultural products in towns and cities.
The growth forecast for the 1st quarter of 2014 has been revised upward from 5.3% to 7.3%. The growth forecast for the 2nd quarter of 2014 has been targeted at 7.0%. Meanwhile, Geostat has released an official quarterly growth GDP rate for the last quarter of 2013 and it is quite impressive 7.1%.
The objective of the project was to produce a pilot RIA on the draft Code on Spatial Planning and Construction in order for the regulators to make an informed decision.The project included a training phase to build the capacity of ISET Policy Institute (and two other Georgian organizations) to perform Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). The ISET-PI team performed a pilot RIA on the draft Spatial Planning and Construction code.
ISET is proud to announce that it has officially been accepted as a member of the International Chamber of Commerce of Georgia (ICC). In addition to ISET’s membership, Eric Livny, ISET’s Director, has been invited by the ICC Executive Board to establish and chair a new committee on economic policy at ICC.
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.