On May 17, 2017, the Georgian government adopted amendments to the Tobacco Control Law with 85 votes in favor, and only one against. This highly debated new regulation, which bans smoking in public places, was initiated by Parliament member Ms. Guguli Maghradze who just recently discussed the obesity problem in Georgia, which is caused partly by excess sugar consumption. Georgian public which is familiar with statements turning into law considered Ms. Maghradze’s statement as a prelude to enacting a sugar tax in Georgia. During the informal interv...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Jun
11
May
07
Since 2012, when the political party Georgian Dream took leadership of the country’s governance, economic [real] growth reached its highest rate in 2017 (5.0%). The drivers of this growth were construction (11.2%), hotels and restaurants (11.2%) and the financial sector (9.2%). However, a few sectors of the economy declined in 2017, and one was agriculture (-2.7%).
Experts on this sector agree that 2017 was a “bad year” for Georgia’s agriculture. Winter lasted longer and spring frost damaged fruit plantations. This was followed by some periods of drought...
Apr
07
Blockchain technology became a huge story last year due to the hype over cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Etherium. Banks and other financial institutions are rushing to adopt blockchain technology. Nowadays, about 15% of financial institutions use blockchain technology to secure and validate transactions. IBM was the one of the first companies that saw the potential of blockchain use and encouraged startups related to the concept. While blockchain technology is mainly associated with the use of cryptocurrencies, the concept can be implemented...
Feb
26
Year by year, interest in the organic market is increasing all over the world. According to STATISTA, worldwide sales of organic food quintupled in the 21st century (18 billion USD in 2000, versus 90 billion USD in 2016), while, according to TechSci Research, the total worth of the market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.15% during the period 2017-2022. In fact, in some developed countries, the growth of supply of organic foods cannot keep up with the growth of demand (OCA, 2018), as the transition from conventio...
Jan
22
* This article below summarizes the observations and recommendations of the Georgian Ministry of "Meet the Meat Demand" study funded by the French Ministry of finance, implemented by France Génétique Elevage and executed by the International Technical Cooperation Bureau of the French livestock organizations (BCTI).
When visiting Georgia, the son of a French farmer may feel like cows are invading the countryside. They seem to be everywhere, roaming in little herds, cows, heifers and calves all together, searching for every blade of grass ...
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