In recent years strengthening vocational education and training (VET) has been among the top priorities of Georgia’s education strategy. The following bulletin discusses the trends of development in VET in Georgia over the last five years.

The purpose of the research is to assess the representation of ethnic minorities, in particular, Azeri- and Armenian-speaking groups in civil service and identify barriers that limit their active engagement in this sector. In addition, the study evaluates the practices of data collection on civil servants’ ethnic background in accordance with the indicator of Sustainable Development Goals and examines the perspectives of different stakeholders on this issue.

In 2021, the recovery of international tourist arrivals to Georgia (31% of 2019 figure) was lower both compared to European (38%) and Central/Eastern European (36%) averages, but higher compared to the global average (28%). Among the selected international benchmark countries (Albania, Croatia, and Greece), Georgia performed the worst, while Albania almost recovered to 2019 levels (89%).

Financial institutions play a pivotal role in the development of the Georgian economy. Indeed, while the financial system remains dominated by commercial banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are the biggest non-bank lending institutions based on portfolio volume. 

The latest issue of Employment Tracker, produced in collaboration with Jobs.ge. The tracker produces valuable insights into the Georgian labor market as it lays out the trajectory of employment and salaries, most demanded job categories, and expectations of specific economic sectors regarding their employment plans. 

The marine fishing cluster in Georgia is mainly based in Poti in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. The primary activity for companies therein is fishing in the Black Sea. Currently, enterprises mainly deploy outdated, Soviet-era vessels in their operations, which are in acute need of upgrading. However,significant measures have been taken to tackle this pressing challenge.

The sanctions imposed on Russia are unprecedented in their scale and speed. In total, including restrictions already been in place before the 2022 invasion, Russia has been the subject of over 5,000 restrictive measures enacted by 41 countries, which makes it the world’s most sanctioned country. This bulletin provides an overview of the most important sanctions that have been imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and an assessment of the potential effectiveness of those sanctions.

According to a survey of Georgian economists, the economic climate in the country in the first quarter of 2022 has worsened compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 but has improved compared to the first quarter of 2021. In the covered period, the surveyed Georgian economists issued a negative assessment of Georgia’s present economic situation and their predictions for Georgia’s economic situation for the next six months were even more negative.

In these difficult times, we would like to express our support and solidarity to Ukrainian people, to our colleagues, consultants and partners currently in Ukraine. We condemn Russia’s military attack and aggression, which puts at risk countless civilian lives.

We have been supporting Ukraine to advance as a democratic country throughout the years and we are committed to continuing this work.