The objective of the project is to analyze options for a private, Georgia-based company to expand its operations. ISET-PI was commissioned by MGeorgia, holding company of JSC ”Chateau Mukhrani” and “Georgian Wines and Spirits Company” Ltd (GWS).

On October 8, ISET hosted Andreja Marusic, the World Bank’s Global Lead for Business Environment. Ms. Marusic delivered a presentation “Doing Business and Beyond”. The presentation covered a general overview and current international practices in business environment reforms as well as the important systemic issues of moving from ad-hoc business environment reforms (such as the Doing Business indicators centric reforms) to a more sustainable approach, including a focus on predictability, transparency, public consultation, and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

The first tea bushes appeared in Western Georgia in 1847, and since then tea production has played a significant, yet widely unknown, role in Georgia’s history. The humid and subtropical climate of Western Georgia in the regions of Guria, Samegrelo, Adjara, Imereti, and Abkhazia are ideal for harvesting tea, and this was a fact eventually recognized by businessmen outside Georgia.

The Debt Management Specialist’s initial focus was an assessment of the public debt management legal environment, institutional coordination and arrangements, public debt management initiatives and capacity, public debt portfolio composition, and macroeconomic condition in Georgia. This report provides a general overview of these fore mentioned components.

Most development practitioners subscribe to the view that vibrant small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) are crucial for the health of a country’s economy. The SME sector is crucial, the argument goes because it creates employment and serves as a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent. Additionally, SMEs are often seen as a source of new, fast-growing industries, contributing to a price-reducing and quality-improving competition with large and old firms that tend to dominate markets in small countries such as Georgia.