As Stephen Dowling put it in his BBC News article a few years ago, “when it comes to crossing the road, there's no such thing as an international standard. Every country does it differently.” How people drive and cross the road, according to Dowling, is a matter of a country’s cultural values. Is it really?

On February 15, 2013, Professor Hans Wiesmeth, vice-president of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, delivered a presentation titled “Integrated Environmental Policies: Supporting the Sustainable Development of Georgia” to the academic community at the National Science Academy of Georgia. The event was initiated and supported by ISET.

The project aims to settle the Financial Soundness Indicators compilation based on recommendations of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and use them to analyze business climate and financial sector stability of Georgia. The main objective of the study is to assess the financial sector stability/vulnerability over time and compare with a set of benchmark countries in the context of the overall investment climate situation Georgia and in the region.

ISET-PI played a relatively minor role in this project, supporting a consortium consisting of Ecorys (Netherlands) and CASE (Poland). The study was commissioned by the European Commission (DG Trade). The Georgian component of the study identified considerable compliance costs related to the EU-required phyto and veterinary controls, reflected in higher prices for meat and meat products, and an increase in EU meat exports to Georgia. These findings were reported to the Georgian Prime Minister’s office and to the consortium members.

ISET-PI played a relatively minor role in this project, supporting a consortium consisting of Ecorys (Netherlands) and CASE (Poland). The study was commissioned by the European Commission (DG Trade). The Georgian component of the study identified considerable compliance costs related to the EU-required phyto and veterinary controls, reflected in higher prices for meat and meat products, and an increase in EU meat exports to Georgia. These findings were reported to the Georgian Prime Minister’s office and to the consortium members.