ISET Policy Institute is an active member of the CAREC Think Tank Network. This year, the fifth CAREC Think Tank Development Forum, held on November 23-24, gathered leaders from the CAREC Institute, Asian Development Bank, other international organizations, leading regional think tanks, experts, alongside various academics to discuss economic corridors as drivers of fiscal growth and regional integration.

According to Geostat’s updated estimate, Q3 2021 growth rate stands at 9%. As a result, the real GDP growth estimate for the first nine months of 2021 is 11.3%.

The global economy continues to recover in Q2 2021 following the deep economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The growth accelerated as a result of the easing of virus-containment restrictions in most countries. IMF (July 2021) estimates that global GDP growth will reach 6% year over year (y/y) in 2021. Though this rebound is uneven – compared to the previous estimates (April 2021), growth projections for emerging markets and developing economies are revised downward.

The development of the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) service sector is one of the strategic priorities for the Georgian economy. The sector is characterized by the unique potential to contribute to the country’s long-term growth, create positive productivity spillovers into other industries, and, in the longer term, transform the existing industrial structure of Georgia by moving away from primary production and primary exports.

Recently, Geostat has released the preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2021, which now stands at 29.9%. The real GDP growth rate reached 9.9% year-on-year in July 2021. Consequently, the estimated real GDP for the first seven months of 2021 amounted to 12.2%.