ISET-PI's Executive Director Lasha Labadze was invited by TV1 to speak about remittances, how its defined, who are the top remitting countries, and how remittances are used in Georgia and what is the role of remittances in Georgia’s economy.  In general, high remittances makes local currency stronger, decreases poverty, but it also signals the high unemployment and weak economy in the country. In 2015 Georgia received significantly lower remittances, but in the first 6 month of 2016 it stayed at the same level compared to the same period of previous year. Watch the video from TV 1 to learn more.

This paper analyses income distribution and poverty reduction in Georgia in the period 2010 to 2017/2018. As we have no data for 2019, our findings do not relate to the most recent distributional policies of the Georgian government. Our results suggest that while Georgia has substantially reduced poverty and income inequality, continuous monitoring of the situation would be helpful.

According to the Khachapuri Index, year-on-year we have observed a sharp increase (up by 9.1% compared to October 2015) in the price of butter. Typically, the price of butter should follow the price of milk, since the latter is the major ingredient of butter. Interestingly, however, the data collected for Khachapuri Index does not support this trend. Our data showed a 1.1% year-on-year decrease in price of milk. The explanation could be that most milk (and also milk products) that we are monitoring are made of milk powder.

On November 20, the study “Mapping of Emerging and Potential Clusters in Georgia” carried out by the ISET Policy Institute in cooperation with local and international partners was presented at the stakeholder forum ‘Promoting strong and competitive business in Georgia’ organized by the EU and the four UN agencies – UNDP, FAO, UNIDO and IOM, under their joint effort for strong and competitive private sector in Georgia. Over 100 representatives of private companies, business associations and international organizations took part in the forum to discuss business development trends in Georgia, as well as the competitive potential of the private sector on national and EU markets. The forum was attended by officials from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Parliamentary Committee on Diaspora and Caucasus Issues. The study has been commissioned by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). UNIDO is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. Under the overall guidance of the UNIDO Senior Industrial Development Officer ISET in partnership with two other organizations, TBSC and ABSO, has performed mapping of emerging and potential clusters in Georgia with a focus on manufacturing and agribusiness sectors.

Gender-biased sex selection (GBSS) in favor of boys is an indicator of gender discrimination and highlights the inequality towards girls throughout many countries. Patriarchal structures reinforce a preference for sons and perpetuate a societal climate of violence and discrimination against women and girls. GBSS is moreover a symptom of the pervasive social, political, cultural, and economic injustices against women and girls.