The FINANCIAL — My first visit from London to Georgia was planned for August 2008. A close friend who visited Georgia on an assignment in 2000 suggested that I re-think any plan I may have had to live and work in Georgia.
I disregarded his advice. His worries were about the law and order and of personal security. As I was about to take my flight, the 5-day war with Russia and the following uncertainties erupted. There was a certain “knock-back” effect. I decided firmly to come to Georgia and arrived here in September 2008. It has been three years since my first visit and I have closely watched Georgia’s ability and resilience in managing its own affairs and charting a well-defined course toward democracy, law and order and economic prosperity.
It is often the “outsider” who gains, perhaps on account of one’s sense of non-emotive impartiality, a greater insight into a country and its people. It is also equally true that citizens of a country, whether they are in the East or West, tend to under-rate their own economic performance, their leaders and governmental achievements. Within the last 3 years, excluding the difficult years for Georgia since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Georgia has had a remarkable forward march in its government, its policies and programs toward greater democratisation, its law and order, fighting corruption, ease of doing business and the development of infrastructure of roads , bridges, re-development of little towns and villages, opening new economic zones and signalling to investors that Georgia is ready and willing to be a partner in the progress. I now live and work in Georgia, have travelled the length and breadth of this country and I am glad I kept faith in this beautiful and exotic land.
Georgia, for any well-travelled eyes, is a perfect bridge between Europe and Asia. Its thousands of years of history and culture, its castles and churches, its music, food and wine, its religion and spirituality, its emerging dynamic youth – most of whom in a few years will be multilingual, its tourist attractions of mountains, beaches and rivers and the immense natural beauty are great assets and are unique. It is a real gem at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
Since the “knock-back” from the 5-day war, Georgia has worked hard to bring about a great deal of stabilisation in its economy and has adopted a fresh approach to handling conflicts, within the country and with its giant, significantly important neighbour Russia. It has declared its policy to openly discuss issues and arrive at workable solutions. And it works closely with European and US stakeholders to determine a course for Georgia where it will enjoy total freedom, peace and prosperity. It seems the platform has been set.
I often wonder what Georgia will be like in 2020, a year that seems to have a number of projected landmarks, ranging from environmental to national development strategies. My gut feeling is that, given continued peace and stability and an increasing rapprochement with Russia, this is a country which can become a shining example of democracy, freedom, peace and prosperity and could be a beacon of hope for a number of smaller nations elsewhere. This model status for Georgia, based on project management principles, needs to be achieved through more focussed planning, a sense of national unity and integration, and a strategic vision which can transform its people into a collective force for development.
A key element in the planning process is not only the decentralisation of power among the regions, but enabling those regional powers to actively pursue intelligent economic goals and show-case their development success. I have visited the offices of several regional mayors and had discussions with them on projects for small and medium business development. They were most welcoming of our ideas and approaches and demonstrated great enthusiasm. They did not, however, seem to have much lee-way in their budgets or plans to be able to be proactive, innovative and confront the challenges of development, of generating employment and of eradicating poverty.
Georgia, in my view, is an underperforming asset. It has an unemployment rate of 16.9% which is statistically misleading if you take pockets of unemployment which may be much higher, potentially up to 40% or 50%. If you factor in underemployment and low wages, contrasted to the relatively high cost of living, there is a sense of unease that grips villages, and both the young and the old. Direct foreign investments, in a crisis-ridden global economy, may be harder to attract and it leaves Georgia the task of re-building its economy through sheer hard work and resilience, using its own resources of people and materials.
There is a significant focus on agriculture, tourism on the Black Sea coast and in the snowy mountains and a defined effort to build a better infrastructure. Given its small but educated population which has a 100% literacy rate, and the native talent and ingenuity of its youth, it would be a brilliant idea to begin a drive of innovation into every aspect of Georgia’s development. India has rocketed into information technology with a 6.5 billion USD share of the global market and is continuing to expand. Georgia could well take a sizeable share of this global industry. Agriculture still remains the largest employer with 57% of the workforce, but the agricultural practices are still out-dated. Georgian honey is one of world’s best, but its inability to conform to European standards of processing limits its export capacities. And this land has been the cradle of wine production through centuries, but Georgian wines are unknown overseas. There is much to be done in terms of future economic modelling.
Given its brief period of independence and the resultant struggles in evolving a new and robust system of government, Georgia has done brilliantly well. Its potential for growth and prosperity, however, is much higher. In the process of achieving greater heights, Georgia needs to be unique. Towards this end, I wish that Georgia is christened “GIORGIA” so that Google does not pick up Georgia in the United States whenever one wishes to know more about this country.
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