Georgian PM highlights country’s “advanced positions” among EU member, candidate states in int’l indexes

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday highlighted the country’s “advanced positions” among European Union member and candidate states in international rankings and indexes in his end-of-year report summarising the work of his Government.

Garibashvili emphasised the country’s position in the latest study and report on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Policy Index by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, that evaluated areas including responsible government, entrepreneurial human capital, access to finance, market access and innovation.

He said Georgia was leading in 11 directions out of the 12 in the index, and noted a double-digit economic growth allowed the country to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and grow the economy.

Next year, our revenue will be at 41 percent of the European Union average, and by 2027, according to the Government's forecast, it will increase to 45 percent”, he told the audience for the annual summary.

If we look at the data of the countries that recently joined the EU, we can say that a number of EU countries - including Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Romania - had approximately similar figures at the time of accession”, the Government head added.

The PM also said Georgia’s advanced position in a “number of areas” could be seen in recent macroeconomic parameters of EU member and candidate countries, as the country ranked “first” among them in economic growth rate.

He noted ratings published by international organisations, which, he said “objectively reflected” Georgia's progress and improvement of its global positioning, naming the following:

• 2023 Democracy Report by the Diversity of Democracy, which placed Georgia among top 10 of 179 countries with 10-year democratisation progress
• The World Justice Project's 2023 Rule of Law Index, placing Georgia among the top 20 in Europe and ranking first in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions, and sixth among middle-income countries
• Freedom From Corruption Index 2023, ranking the country 33rd in the world, including it in top 20 of European countries, and first in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, where he said Georgia was ahead of “many” EU and NATO member states. In the ranking of corruption control, Georgia ranked 20th in the world, 11th in Europe, and second among post-Soviet countries
• Corruption Perception Index 2022 by Transparency International, where the country Georgia ranked 41st among 180 countries and as the leader in the region
• Improvement of Georgia’s position in the European Research Centre for Anti Corruption and State-Building’s latest Transparency in the Time of War index from 54th to 17th
• Fraser Institute’s report of Economic Freedom of the World 2023, where the country was among the top 25 states with the freest economies
• Freedom on the Net by Freedom House, in which Georgia was listed ninth among 70 countries with 76 out of 100 points
• Global Corruption Index 2023 by Global Risk Profile, where Georgia was promoted by two places and in 43rd spot among 200 countries
• Open Budget Index 2022, in which the country was listed first in the world in terms of budget transparency

The PM said in terms of quality of governance, Georgia stood out not only in the wider region, but also among the candidate countries of the EU, while in a “number of indicators” it was ahead of more than 10 EU members and all eight candidate countries. 

“This is the result that our Government has achieved in the last 11 years”, the Government head told the audience, adding the country had become a “European state” and this process was “irreversible”. 

“Now it is necessary to do more with more determination, more motivation, more work, in order for the country to become a real European state, and most importantly, to fulfil our main dream - de-occupation of our country, unification of our country and becoming a real successful state”, he said.