Prior to the armed conflict with Russia in August 2008 and the world financial crisis in September, per capita income rose three-fold, GDP rose by nearly 10% per annum and Foreign Direct Investment more than doubled to an estimated 17,2% in 2007. But those twin shocks hit many sectors and dampened economic growth.
Although there has been some diversification, Georgia's export structure remains quite concentrated in traditional products. In agriculture, a sector critical for the economy, labour productivity is one tenth of that in the rest of the economy and the activity has registered a decline due to shortage of credit and the small size of land plots.
The report says that continuing structural reforms will be key to strengthening Georgia's resilience to shocks, sustaining growth, attracting investment into export activities and improving productivity; in short, in developing an enabling environment for export diversification in terms of both product composition and geographical direction.
The report, along with policy statement by the Government of Georgia, will be the basis for the first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Georgia by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 8 and 10 December 2009.#
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: GEORGIA
Structural Reforms key to Georgia's resilience to shocks, sustaining growth
Special Correspondent - 2009-12-08 16:32
Georgia's recent economic policies have met with considerable success guided by reliance on the private sector for growth in a liberalized trade, investment and business environment, in what has been on of the world's fastest reforming economies, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Georgia.