On Friday, March 31, Aleksi Aleksishvili, CEO and Chairman of the board of the Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG), awarded need-based scholarships to two first-year students – Mariam Tsulukidze and Zaza Barbakadze. As ISET is a premier graduate education and research institution in the South Caucasus, producing dozens of top-notch young economists every year, PMCG scholarship is a great investment not only in the human capital of Mariam and Zaza, but also in the future of Georgia and the South Caucasus generally.

After the scholarship award ceremony, Mr. Aleksishvili talked about the potential upcoming changes in Georgia’s constitution. He focused on two major topics: the Liberty Act and the Labor Rights, which are important parts of the constitution.

He discussed the importance of economic freedom for the country, and the necessity to balance it with some restrictions such as thresholds for budget deficits and external debt defined by the Liberty Act. He also talked about labor rights and regulations, emphasizing their potential economic and social impacts.

Mr. Aleksishvili has 15 years of experience in the fields of public finance and economic development. In 2004-2007, he held senior government positions as minister of economic development and, later, finance. Since retiring from government in 2007, he has been advising governments and international organizations on fiscal policy, tax, customs, and “doing business” reforms.

PMCG’s donation of need-based scholarships to ISET students closes an important circle. Back in 2005-6, Mr. Aleksishvili was part of a small group of Georgian reformers who worked with the late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania to create a donor coalition and establish the International School of Economics at the Tbilisi State University.