Exporting the seeds of the Nordmann fir – a very popular species grown for Christmas trees – is a thriving and fiercely competitive Georgian industry, perhaps the only one in which Georgia has a near monopoly of the European market. According to an industry expert, more than 80% of all Christmas trees sold in Europe have their origin in Racha (Tlugi and Ambrolauri) and Borjomi forests.
In 2013 Georgia exported more than 60 tons of fir tree seeds, with a total value of almost $US 2 million ($32/kg on average). Denmark is the largest buyer of Georgia’...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Dec
25
Oct
03
GEORGIAN “SUPRAS” AND POVERTY
Hospitality is one of the most prized aspects of the Georgian culture. Welcoming (literal translation: "respecting") guests is a matter of great pride for any family. My mother grew up in a small Imeretian village, and as she tells me, the kids of the family were not allowed to eat until the guests were fully "respected", i.e. properly fed. Even the poorest household in the village would go out of its way (and income) to impress its guests with a cornucopia of local delicacies, meats, veggies, and homemade wine. To this day,...
Sep
19
POVERTY PERSISTING…
Any Georgian growing up in the “dark” 1990s (a literally dark, and rather gloomy period in the recent history of our country) would remember the canned milk powder distributed, together with some other goodies, to families with children aged below 5. These black and white cans were often used as flower pots in many of these families…
Being a kid from that dark age, one author of this blog was surprised to discover that, according to the World Bank’s poverty estimations, Georgia is doing worse today than it did then...
Jun
27
In his famous “Advice to Scholars”, David Guramishvili wrote (translation by Venera Urushadze):
If you seek happiness and good, First taste the bitterness of gall, For bitter roots yield sweetest fruits, And honest labour blesses all.
Guramishvili is a passionate advocate of learning not as a means of getting a better job or achieving any other pragmatic objective. For him, the fruit of education is sweet because “wisdom to the wise brings calm and makes him master of his lot”. Learning is thus seen a goal in and of itself.
Judging by today’s r...
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