Georgia is actively addressing gender equality and women's economic empowerment (WEE) within its investment climate and national policies. Despite legislative efforts to align with EU directives, women-owned SMEs face significant challenges in accessing finance, impacting overall economic growth.

The global economy remains in a volatile state amid the prolonged effects of the combined negative shocks of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high inflation, and the tightening monetary policy. Although the global economy remained resilient at the beginning of the year, the situation is expected to worsen.

In 2022 Georgia stayed on the path of recovery, exceeding experts’ expectations of economic performance. According to GeoStat’s preliminary estimates, the real GDP continues to show double-digit growth rates, measuring at 10.1% y/y in 2022 – which is remarkably close to the NBG’s real GDP growth expectation of 10% from October 2022.

Davit Keshelava from ISET Policy Institute participated in a Thematic Inquiry from the Parliamentary Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee. The investigation, supported by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), was dedicated to understanding the challenges of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Georgia.

ISET Policy Institute developed an advanced quantitative model to simulate the potential impacts of energy and environmental policies on the Georgian economy, the Climate Policy Analysis (ICPA), and investigated the economy-wide implications of three alternative policy options (the introduction of differentiated – by sector – carbon taxes, sectoral emission standards, and uniform carbon tax), complying with the emission targets defined in Georgia’s Climate Strategy and Action Plan, to find out the most effective measures and their welfare effects.