On June 11, 2014, ISET hosted Douglas H. Brooks, the Assistant Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank's Economics and Research Department. He presented Georgia’s main trade statistics and discussed the benefits to Georgia from global value-added trade.

Georgia’s participation in international trade has continually increased over time. This could be a positive sign. The Asian Development Bank has estimated that Georgia’s trade openness contributes 2-3% to its economic growth. However, in 2009 there was a drop in both import and export levels for two reasons: the Russia-Georgia war and the global recession. Dr. Brooks also pointed out that Georgia’s product baskets and trading partners are sufficiently diverse in contrast with its neighbors (for example, Azerbaijan, where trade is mainly based on oil and gas).

Dr. Brooks discussed a number of different issues that negatively influence the level of trade such as: transport costs, storage, and warehousing costs, and delays of export. However, he emphasized that Georgia’s bilateral trading costs decreased in recent years, which promoted trade.

More than 50% of world trade is in intermediate goods and 70-80% of world trade is actual value-added. Dr. Brooks underlined that Georgia can be a part of the global value-added trade. It is not a matter of how much the country exports, but how much value is added to those products that it exports.

ISET would like to thank Dr. Douglas H. Brooks for presenting a very informative topic to the ISET community.