World Bank Vice President on Her Visit to Georgia

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00:00 It's great to be back in Georgia again.

00:02 I was last here in 2015.

00:05 So much has happened since,

00:06 but probably one of the most memorable will be the last year,

00:10 which was a challenging year for the world and also for Georgia.

00:13 Georgia as a service economy

00:16 dependent on tourism,

00:17 was one of the hardest hit countries.

00:19 I'm very proud that the World Bank was so quick to respond.

00:23 Georgia was one of the first recipients of our emergency COVID support package.

00:28 It comprised both medical support

00:31 for emergency medical equipment,

00:34 PCR testing,

00:35 oxygen concentrators,

00:37 and other medical equipment.

00:39 Over 600,000 individuals and families have benefited from

00:44 the social support under our emergency response.

00:48 We also provided support

00:50 to help firms during this difficult time.

00:52 Over 6000 micro,

00:55 small and medium sized enterprises will benefit from support.

01:00 This also comes on top of support that we provided

01:03 to the general budget

01:05 against reforms that Georgia has taken in the past,

01:08 as well as a project that's one of my favorites,

01:10 which is called Log in Georgia,

01:12 where over 500,000 people in 1000 villages across Georgia

01:16 will benefit from greater connectivity

01:19 and digital services.

01:22 What's very important as we look forward for

01:24 a strong recovery for Georgia are 3 things

01:27 continuing with structural reforms.

01:30 And here I would like to highlight the

01:31 reforms the government is discussing around the SOEs,

01:34 state-owned enterprises,

01:35 but also broader public administrative reforms.

01:39 Secondly,

01:40 paying very close attention to environment and climate change.

01:45 Cost of the environmental degradation is about 6% of GDP.

01:49 This is very significant

01:50 and causes both health concerns for the population of Georgia

01:54 and of course impacts the pristine environment that

01:56 we want Georgia to have for its tourism.

01:59 And thirdly,

02:00 we need to make sure that we focus strongly on the opportunities that.

02:03 Digital can provide.

02:05 We see a lot of opportunities to enhance

02:07 the government services,

02:09 but also a greater role by the private sector by laying the foundations for digital.

02:13 Log in Georgia provides a great starting point,

02:15 but I think we can continue to support to get a more dynamic private sector

02:19 to help in the recovery

02:21 for all of Georgia.

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transcript

It's great to be back in Georgia again. I was last here in 2015. So much has happened since, but probably one of the most memorable will be the last year, which was a challenging year for the world and also for Georgia. Georgia as a service economy dependent on tourism, was one of the hardest hit countries. I'm very proud that the World Bank was so quick to respond. Georgia was one of the first recipients of our emergency COVID support package. It comprised both medical support for emergency medical equipment, PCR testing, oxygen concentrators, and other medical equipment. Over 600,000 individuals and families have benefited from the social support under our emergency response. We also provided support to help firms during this difficult time. Over 6000 micro, small and medium sized enterprises will benefit from support. This also comes on top of support that we provided to the general budget against reforms that Georgia has taken in the past, as well as a project that's one of my favorites, which is called Log in Georgia, where over 500,000 people in 1000 villages across Georgia will benefit from greater connectivity and digital services. What's very important as we look forward for a strong recovery for Georgia are 3 things continuing with structural reforms. And here I would like to highlight the reforms the government is discussing around the SOEs, state-owned enterprises, but also broader public administrative reforms. Secondly, paying very close attention to environment and climate change. Cost of the environmental degradation is about 6% of GDP. This is very significant and causes both health concerns for the population of Georgia and of course impacts the pristine environment that we want Georgia to have for its tourism. And thirdly, we need to make sure that we focus strongly on the opportunities that. Digital can provide. We see a lot of opportunities to enhance the government services, but also a greater role by the private sector by laying the foundations for digital. Log in Georgia provides a great starting point, but I think we can continue to support to get a more dynamic private sector to help in the recovery for all of Georgia.

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VP Visit Georgia

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