OECD official: Georgia’s recent “success” due to “consistent policy” of state agencies

William Tompson, the Head of the Eurasia Division in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Global Relations Secretariat. Photo: Ministry of Economy

Agenda.ge, 14 Dec 2023 - 17:08, Tbilisi,Georgia

William Tompson, the Head of the Eurasia Division in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Global Relations Secretariat, on Thursday said Georgia had experienced “huge success” after 2020 due to a “consistent policy” of its state agencies.

Tompson commented on the latest Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Policy Index involving the European Union’s Eastern Partnership countries, where Georgia was ranked in one of the leading positions. 

The results showed that Georgia is again the leader in the list of the OECD's Index, and this has been going on for several years [...] The research revealed that Georgia, except for one component, is a leader in all directions and this is the primary priority. The second priority is digitisation, and Georgia is successful in many directions in this regard”, he said.

The official added strengthening SMEs should remain a “priority” direction of the Government’s policy.

Since 2015, we have seen a significant improvement - the average productivity has increased by 23 percent - but there is still much to do to further expand production", Tompson noted.

The report covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine placed the country at the top in 11 out of 12 categories, ranging from institutional and regulatory framework, operating environment, insolvency and second chances, entrepreneurial training and women's entrepreneurship.