On December 15, 2016, Dr. Natalia Velikova, Associate Professor at Texas Tech University (TTU), held a lecture on Focus Group Discussions for the researchers of ISET-PI. Natalia is an Associate Director of the Texas Wine Marketing Research Institute. Currently, she is a Fulbright scholar in Tbilisi and works on the Development of Wine Marketing and Wine Tourism Strategies for Georgia.

Resident faculty participated in ISET's Ongoing Professional Development Pedagogical Course. This year’s course followed on from the 2015 program, which consisted of consultations, practical sessions, and feedback on teaching methods, as well as discussions relating to the participants' own professional experiences.

As part of a partnership arrangement under the “Good Jobs for Inclusive Growth” study, Yasya Babych of MPRC was invited to participate in an Interim workshop dubbed “Enabling Conditions for Inclusive Growth and Good Jobs: A Role for Development Partners” held on 15-16 September 2016 in Manila, the Philippines by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

On June 3 2016, a Round Table Discussion of Tea Cooperatives was held in Kutaisi. This was the third event in a series of dialogues about agriculture and rural development in Georgia organized by ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI) in partnership with CARE International, the Regional Development Association and the Georgian Farmers Association, with support from the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD).

ISET is pleased to welcome its new employee Gigla Mikautadze in the capacity of Deputy Head of the Private Sector Development Research Centre. His responsibilities include leading the centre in studying and formulating effective policy options for strengthening the private sector and promoting market competitiveness. In addition, he will work to promote the engagement of the private sector in policy discussions, as well as assist the research centre in its goal to increase the capacity of the private and the public sector in development.