On October 11, 2013, ISET was pleased to host Swiss Ambassador to Georgia H.E. Günther Bächler. In introducing his presentation the ambassador outlined his interesting career track, which started with a BA in Art and History of Art and then moved to conflict studies and diplomacy.

ISET-PI collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on a three-day training workshop (2-4 September) to review the best international practices in measuring and monitoring the soundness of a country's financial sector. The event brought together NBG and GeoStat officials together with ISET researchers to facilitate improvements in the Georgian system of financial soundness indicators.

On 19 June ISET hosted Jacques Fleury, formerly the CEO of GGMW and currently the CEO of GWS and Director of JSC Château Mukhrani. The format of the meeting was very different from the typical seminars conducted at ISET. Mr. Fleury provided insights into doing business in Georgia since 1997 when he was asked to become the CEO and increase the value of one of Georgia’s most famous intangible assets – the popularity of the mineral water from the springs of the Borjomi valley.

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 May 1, 2013, Professor Eberhard Feess of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, held a seminar at ISET on Competition Policy. The presentation covered theoretical and applied aspects of competition policy and its relevance to Georgia.