Have you ever had a problem buying healthy products or being lazy to go shopping in the open-air bazaar? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to order natural and fresh food that gets delivered straight to your door that is not of the fast-food, take-away variety? There might just be the reason for optimism with the story of soplidan.ge (“from the village”).

On March 30-31 ISET-PI team took part in an interim research workshop conducted within the framework of a multi-country study “Good Jobs for Inclusive Growth in Central and West Asia” organized and financed by the Asian Development Bank. The goal of the study is to inform policy decisions aimed at promoting inclusive growth and reducing poverty and inequality in the countries of Central and West Asia (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, as well as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan).

As has been reported earlier, the recent deal struck by Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Wizz Air CEO Owain Jones led to a decision by the company to start – already in September 2016 – base operations in Kutaisi and launch new twice or thrice-weekly service from Kutaisi to Berlin, Munich, Milan, Dortmund, Larnaca, Sofia, and Thessaloniki.

Back in October 2014, soon after the introduction of new visa regulations by the Georgian government, I visited Seoul, the capital of South Korea. An unpleasant surprise awaited me on the way back home at the Seoul airport. The young stewardess checked my (Israeli) passport and informed me that, according to the system, I will not be allowed to board the flight (to Istanbul) unless I show a Georgian residence card or buy a return ticket.

Facilitating cooperation among Georgia’s smallholders is in the focus of EU’s 52 mln Euro ENPARD project, of which ISET is a (small) part. An evaluation effort, coordinated by the ISET Policy Institute, has uncovered some interesting facts and figures.