Like most other former socialist countries, Georgia enjoys a very high literacy level, as measured e.g. by the share of people completing secondary education. And yet, the single most problematic factor for doing business in Georgia, at least since 2013, is the “inadequately educated workforce”. Not crime. Not corruption. Not access to finance. Not faulty infrastructure. Inadequately educated workforce.

Despite the fast pace of installing gas infrastructure throughout the country, wood remains a major household fuel in Georgia. According to Georgia’s energy balance, in 2014, Georgian households consumed 19,131 Terajoules of biofuel and waste (mainly wood). The share of wood in total energy consumed by households was 38%.

Economic reforms announced in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in October 2016 raised concerns about whether Georgia was departing from its path of prudent fiscal policy. A reform of the corporate profit tax and increased infrastructure investment were driving expectations of a 6% of GDP budget deficit in 2017, endangering Georgia’s macroeconomic stability and its reputation with investors.

The official visit of the Armenian President last week was concluded by a splashy announcement that the building of the “Friendship Bridge,” a new infrastructure project approved by the Georgian and Armenian Governments in late 2014, will start construction in 2017, and will be completed in under two years.

Matsatso Tepnadze, ISET class 2012, has been recently appointed head of the division of planning for infrastructure projects at the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia (MRDI). This division is in charge of elaborating project selection and planning methods, based on a systemic evaluation of strategic public infrastructure projects.