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ABD plans more investments to support energy, SME sectors in Georgia
Three pilot GCAPs undertaken in Yerevan, Tbilisi and Tirana have been completed, and four new GCAPs are now underway in Batumi, Belgrade, Chisinau and Gyumri. Two further GCAPs are planned in Amman and Ulaanbaatar in the near future.
Since 2006, the EBRD has committed over €26bn to projects furthering the transition to the green economy across its 38 economies.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to expand its $1.5bn investment portfolio in Georgia, Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Giorgi Kobulia said on September 26 at a meeting with ADB resident mission country director Yesim Elhan-Kayalar, according to a Georgia Today report .
“In fact, this sum [the investment portfolio] makes up 10% of our GDP. The ADB is still planning to expand this portfolio—we discussed the possibility of increasing the ADB participation in our energy sector as well as its support in the pension reform and PPP [Public Private partnership] Law implementation,” Kobulia stated.
ADB’s investments over time in Georgia have amounted to some €3bn while the investment portfolio stands at $1.5bn at this very moment, he added. Sovereign loans extended to the country reached $2.42bn while non-sovereign loans total $330 million, according to ADB’s website.
New investments are envisaged in the energy sector, in supporting the government’s reform of its pension system and to finance PPP projects under a newly endorsed law.
The development bank is also considering ways to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country, Kobulia commented. ADB will provide technical and financial assistance to SMEs in the regions to improve connectivity between different businesses. It will also allocate money for SMEs, allowing them to produce different products or even build new hotels.
Georgia joined the ADB in 2007. The first ADB project in Georgia was the Municipal Services Development Project. ADB has supported the modernisation and expansion of Georgia’s East–West Highway, which enhanced Georgia’s positioning as a logistics hub. ADB and Georgia have also worked together to expand renewable energy resources and upgrade the country’s power transmission network.
4.4 Labour and income
4.4.1 Unemployment, income dynamics
Georgia’s unemployment rate inched down in 2017
Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 of a percentage point (pp) to 13.9% in 2017, continuing the downtrend of the last eight years, data from the state statistics office Geostat shows.
Unemployment remained highest among young people, reaching as high as 29.6% for 20-24 year olds, even though it declined by 3.2pp for this age group compared to 2016.
21 GEORGIA Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com