"I think it's notable that over the past two years, FDI [foreign direct investment] flows to Georgia have been higher than any other country in the region as a percentage of GDP," IMF official David Owen said during a presentation in Tbilisi on regional economic outlook.
"I think that's a clear reflection of the success of the structural reforms and strengthening of the business environment that has gone on since 2003," he added.
Good Climate
In a recent report, The IMF lauded Georgia's investment climate and ability to record GDP growth of around 9 percent in 2006 in the face of economic sanctions imposed by Russia.
The World Bank, meanwhile, in its 2006 "Doing Business" survey named Georgia the No. 1 reformer in the world.
Owen and other IMF officials were in Tbilisi to mark Georgia's transfer to a new stage of cooperation with the fund in its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility plan, the IMF's low-interest lending facility for low-income countries.
(with material from Caucasus Press)
| FURTHER READING | |
 Georgia's pro-Western administration has to tread carefully between Russia and the West. more
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 EU Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby speaks to RFE/RL about Georgia's 'frozen conflicts.' more
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