China is the largest bilateral creditor to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presently. China’s lending mainly targets infrastructure, transport, energy, and mining sectors in developing countries that are of strategic importance to the Chinese government. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have observed the most substantial increases in borrowing. Chinese financing to LMICs is facilitated through state entities, offering concessional and non-concessional loans, with a significant portion of lending cloaked in confidentiality.

The recent amendment to Georgia’s tax code, known as the “offshores law,” has sparked significant concern regarding the integrity of Georgia’s financial system. This policy brief examines the implications of this amendment in the context of Georgia’s recent political and regulatory developments, which have raised alarms about the potential risks of money laundering and sanctions evasion.

The ISET Policy Institute has been closely monitoring and assessing the progress of pension reform for years. Respectively, we have reviewed the proposed changes and identified substantial risks for the effective organizational structure of the pension fund and the welfare of over 1.5 million participating citizens.

Georgia is committed to various international agreements on climate change, notably the Paris Agreement and the Association Agreement with the European Union. Recently, in 2021, Georgia announced a new Nationally Determined Contribution, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% compared to 1990 levels.

The "Inclusive Access to Markets" (IA2M) project aims to enhance the competitiveness of Georgian SMEs in EU and European markets. Under this initiative, UNDP commissioned the ISET Policy Institute to conduct a study to identify sectors with high growth and export potential. The objective of the study is to analyze existing research materials and data to identify at least six promising sectors or subsectors.