The ISET Policy Institute participated in the 2024 FREE Network Retreat, held in Chisinau, Moldova, from September 11-13. The retreat brought together both researchers and administrative staff from member institutions of the Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and Emerging Economies (FREE Network) for strategic discussions on economic research, capacity building, and communication practices.

According to GeoStat’s preliminary estimates in the first quarter of 2024, Georgia’s nominal GDP reached GEL 18,913.2 million, with a year-over-year real GDP growth of 8.4% and a GDP deflator change of 3.1%. The growth was driven by significant increases in value-added across various sectors: Real estate activities rose by 18.8%, Education by 29.1%, Public administration and defence, including social security, by 13.0%, Construction by 10.3%, Information and communication by 12.2%, and Transportation and storage by 9.7%.

ISET Policy Institute is pleased to announce that its research and communications teams have successfully completed an intensive Data Visualization training program. The training on June 26-27 was generously funded by Sweden.

This policy brief addresses risks tied to Russian business ownership in Georgia. The concentration of this ownership in critical sectors such as electricity and communications makes Georgia vulnerable to risks of political influence, corruption, economic manipulation, espionage, sabotage, and sanctions evasion. To minimize these risks, it is recommended to establish a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening mechanism for Russia-originating investments, acknowledge the risks in national security documents, and implement a critical infrastructure reform.

In November, ISET Policy Institute conducted a training series for civil society organizations (CSO) and private sector associations (PSA). This course was one part of the “Develop the advocacy capacity of civil society organizations and private sector associations” project, supported by the USAID Economic Governance Program.