Archiv der Kategorie: Georgien

Georgien — Überblick

Republik Georgien
Lage
Am Schwarzen Meer, im Norden die Russische Föderation, im Südosten an Aserbaidschan und Armenien, im Süden die Türkei
Fläche
gesamt: 69 700 qkm
Land
69 700 qkm
Wasser
0 qkm
Landesgrenzen
gesamt: 1 461 km
Grenzstaaten
Armenien 164 km, Aserbaidschan 322 km, Russland 723 km, Türkei 252 km; Küste 310 km (Schwarzes Meer)

Daten des Statistischen Bundesamtes

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Bevölkerung 5,2 Mill. 2001
Fläche 69700 qkm 2001
Bevölkerungsdichte 75 Einw. je qkm 2001
Arbeitslosenquote 10,8 % 2000
Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) 3029 Mill.US-$ 2000
Jährliches BIP-Wachstum (real) 1,9 % 2000
BIP je Einwohner (real) 499 US-$ 2000
Inflationsrate 4,1 % 2000
Importe 704 Mill.US-$ 2000
Exporte 330 Mill.US-$ 2000
Saldo der Im- und Exporte -374 Mill.US-$ 2000
PKW-Dichte 47 je 1000 Einw. 2000
Personal-Computer n.v.
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Einwohner
5 010 000 (gesch. Juli 2000)
Hauptstadt
Tiflis (Tbilisi), 1 253 000 EW
Klima
Die Gebirgslandschaft führt zu einer starken Differenzierung des Klimas. Im allgemeinen sind die Winter im Gebirge kalt und es treten häufig Schneefälle auf. Der Große Kaukausus blockt den Zustrom kalter Luftmassen aus Russland ab. In der Kolchis-Ebene am Schwarzen Meer herrscht ein feuchtes, subtropisches Klima. Die Niederschlagsmengen nehmen nach Osten hin ab.

Georgien gr. KarteGeorgien Karte

Georgia is This Year’s Top Reformer

Georgia was the top reformer in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and led the global top 10 reformer rankings on the ease of doing business in 2005–2006, according to a new report by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

“Georgia made enormous improvements to many areas of its business regulations and jumped an astonishing 75 places in the rankings in just one year, moving from 112th place to number 37,” says Caralee McLiesh, a co-founder of the Doing Business project.

Georgia’s jump in the rankings was the biggest in a single year by any country since the Doing Business report was launched four years ago.

“It just shows just how far a country can go if it’s committed to reforms,” says McLiesh.

Georgia improved in six of the 10 areas studied by Doing Business 2007. The survey ranked 175 economies on the ease of doing business—covering 20 more economies than last year’s report.

The Doing Business survey tracks indicators of the time and cost to meet government requirements in business start-up, operation, trade, taxation, and closure. It does not track variables such as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates.

Georgia “improved its business startup procedures, dramatically improved its customs procedures, introduced specialized courts, streamlined labor regulations, introduced a credit bureau, and cut the number of licences enormously,” says McLeiesh.

The country saw a 55 percent increase in the number of new businesses being registered. In addition, unemployment fell by 2 percent, she says.

Armenia was also a significant reformer with four reforms. Twenty-four regulatory reforms—in nine of the CIS economies —reduced the time, cost, and hassle for businesses to comply with legal and administrative requirements.
The full list of global top reformers is, in order, Georgia, Romania, Mexico, China, Peru, France, Croatia, Guatemala, Ghana, and Tanzania. Reformers simplified business regulations, strengthened property rights, eased tax burdens, increased access to credit, and reduced the cost of exporting and importing. Within the CIS, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine each implemented at least one reform. Tajikistan had no reforms. Uzbekistan made it harder to do business.

Kazakhstan improved by around 20 places in its rankings. The top-ranked countries in the region are Armenia (34), Georgia (37), and Kazakhstan (62). Tajikistan (133) and Uzbekistan (147) rank lowest in the region. Russia sits in the middle of the range, with a ranking of 96, three places behind China but ahead of Brazil and India. Ukraine and Belarus are neck and neck, at 128 and 129 in the global rankings.

Reforms in Georgia

In addition to being the leading global reformer, Georgia was the leading reformer in three of the specific areas studied by the report:

(1) Dealing with licenses: The report looks specifically at construction licenses and permits, and this year Georgia created a one-stop shop for building permits. Shorter time limits for the issuance of permits were introduced, and several unnecessary procedures were eliminated. As a result, compliance with building regulations in Tbilisi is as now as easy as in Hong Kong.

(2) Enforcing contracts: Georgia established specialized commercial sections in the courts. Also, the supreme court can now decide which cases to review. Previously, it dealt with every case sent by the lower courts. In addition, Georgia has been striving to reduce corruption in the courts by increasing judges’ salaries and more aggressively investigating corruption and taking disciplinary measures against judges.

(3) Employing workers: The new labor code eases restrictions on the duration of term contracts and overtime work. The new law provides for one month’s severance pay, replacing complex rules requiring varying notice periods and the involvement of labor unions and the Ministry of Labor. Georgia also reduced the social security contributions paid on wages by businesses from 31% to 20%. Together, these changes make Georgia the sixth easiest place to employ workers globally (after the Marshall Islands, United States, Singapore, Tonga, and the Maldives).

In addition, Georgia made strides in increasing the ease of starting business. Georgia reduced the minimum capital required to start a new business from 2,000 lari to 200 (US$85). As a result, business registrations rose by 55 percent from 2006 to 2006, reflecting both the creation of new businesses and the registration of companies formerly operating in the shadow economy. In the area of getting credit, Georgia also has made some legislative changes to facilitate the exchange of credit information, and a private credit bureau began to support the exchange of information among banks.

More Reforms Needed

While Georgia is the leading reformer this year, there are still several areas where there is considerable room for improvement. In the ease of paying taxes, for example, Georgia ranks only 104 globally. Although tax reform in previous years has simplified taxes and decreased rates, a company still spends about 53 days per year to pay taxes. Georgia also is relatively poorly ranked in closing a business (ranked at 86), suggesting a need for bankruptcy reform. Another priority area is trading across borders, where Georgia ranks at 95, due to a relatively high cost to import and export and a large number of required procedures. Finally, Georgia ranks only 135 on protecting investors, lower than most of its CIS colleagues.

The International Finance Corporation is engaged on the ground in supporting Georgia’s reform efforts. With support from BP and the Government of Canada, it provides technical assistance in the area of SME policy work. The IFC SME Policy Project tightly cooperates with the Georgian government to further improve two regulatory issues: inspections and permits/licenses. The project is working on streamlining licensing and inspecting procedures according to international best practices. It also conducts regular surveys of entrepreneurs, providing first-hand information on administrative barriers hindering business growth. The IFC SME survey reports provide clear recommendations for improvement to the government. The survey instrument is also used to measure the effect of administrative reforms on businesses against a baseline established by IFC’s first Georgia survey, conducted in 2004.

Recently, the project has finalized its second survey, polling 1880 SMEs in 11 regions throughout Georgia. The survey covers 4 key issues for SME sector development: licenses and permits, inspection system, tax administration and export-import procedures.

Georgia Wins $1 Billion Aid Pledge For Reforms

Georgia won pledges of aid on Wednesday worth around $1 billion over the next two years to help with economic reforms and fight poverty, months after a new leadership was voted into power after a bloodless revolution, reports Reuters.

The pledges from the United States, World Bank, European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as well as individual European states at an international donors‘ conference were double what was expected by Georgia. The World Bank said it backed the changes already launched. „We are convinced that it is not just words, but that the actions that have already been launched convince us there will be follow through,“ said Bank Deputy President Shigeo Katsu. Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said reforms would include improving infrastructure like energy plants and roads and institutional change like cutting the size of government and the police. Other priorities were to spread development outside Tbilisi, particularly to the west of the country. The reintegration of the former rebel region of Adzhara would also boost the rest of the country, he said. The government reasserted control over the area in May.

Agence France Presse further writes Shigeo Katsu, noting that the pledge was higher than expected, said the new Georgian authorities „have started to put together a pretty good track record. „I think this track record as well as the vision that they have developed for the future of the country, that has been able to gain strong support from the donor community,“ he added.

The Associated Press explains the organizers didn’t give a breakdown of the $1 billion donations, but the EU said on Tuesday that it would give EUR125 million. Germany pledged EUR26 million and Sweden 54 million kronor. The United States pledged $360 million over three years starting this year. AP further notes European Union foreign ministers agreed Monday to send a „rule of law“ mission to Georgia. The EU staff will help Georgian officials write new criminal justice legislation and aid anti-corruption measures. However, Heikki Talvitie, the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus region, said on Tuesday that membership in the EU „is not on the agenda“ for Georgia.

Kyodo (Japan) adds Japan pledged $3.8 million and will accept technical trainees from Georgia, sources said. Thirty-one countries and 12 international organizations are represented in the international donors‘ conference co-chaired by the World Bank and the European Commission. The conference is expected to take up electricity shortage, corruption and other issues in Georgia in Thursday’s session.

Finally, Europe Information notes the donor conference is taking place on the eve of the European Council which will decide whether or not Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are included in the European Neighborhood Policy. This policy is designed to offer new opportunities for the EU’s eastern neighbors, but also to create a common ground of values such as democracy, good governance and human rights.

In Georgien überschlagen sich die Ereignisse

An diesem Wochenende konnten wir live miterleben, wie Geschichte geschrieben wurde! Die samtene Revolution, wie der Oppositionsführer Micheil Saakaschwili sie nannte, ist unblutig verlaufen. Viele werden es im Fernsehen gesehen haben, als Saakaschwili mit anderen Anhängern der Opposition in das Parlament eindrang und die konstituierende Sitzung des neuen Parlamentes sprengte. Von dahin bis zum Rücktritt des Präsidenten Schewardnadse war es ein weiter Weg mit vielen Ängsten und einem überraschenden Ende.


Aktuelle Informationen zu diesem Thema bietet die Website Georgien Nachrichten, ein Projekt der Internetagentur Irma Berscheid-Kimeridze.