In recent months, ISET‐PI has devoted considerable time to explore the reasons behind the sharp decline in annual real GDP growth in 2013 (from 6.2% in 2012 to 3.3%). With official data for the whole of 2013 finally becoming available, we are taking this opportunity to revisit our previous conclusions and offer new insights.

On February 5, 2014, ISET was pleased to host the German Ambassador to Georgia, H.E. Ortwin Hennig. The Ambassador gave a presentation about democracy and how a democratic country should execute internal and external politics.

On January 30, 2014, ISET hosted Dr. Rognvaldur Hannesson from the Norwegian School of Economics. Dr. Hannesson gave a presentation on the somewhat unusual topic of Fisheries Economics.

The value of a currency, measured in terms of other currencies, has consequences for the real economy. A more expensive lari, for example, makes it more profitable to import goods into Georgia. The importer has to pay the foreign goods with foreign currency, and when the lari is more valuable, fewer lari is needed to pay for them.

On January 31, 2014, ISET hosted the third of a series of events concerning inclusive growth. The topic of the event was Vocational education and training (VET) in Georgia.