GEORGIA IMPROVES ITS SCORES IN FORBES RATING

UNCLAS TBILISI 000640 DEPT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PGOV GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA IMPROVES ITS SCORES IN FORBES RATING ¶1. Summary: Despite the August war with Russia and the global credit Crisis, Georgia's ranking in Forbes' annual rating of the best countries in which to do business improved from 68 in 2008 to 64 in 2009, out of 127 countries ranked. The ranking makes Georgia one of the leaders in the region and roughly ranked equally with China and Brazil. Forbes identifies "Trade Freedom" and "Corruption" as two areas where Georgia has made significant improvement, but also indicates "Personal Freedom" as an area which has shown substantial deterioration. End Summary. The Ratings ¶2. In terms of key indicators, Georgia's ranking in the Forbes rating is as follows: Trade Freedom - 61, Monetary Freedom - 98, Innovation - 101, Technology- 92, Red Tape - 3, Investor Protection -15, Corruption 54, Personal Freedom - 85, Tax Burden - 73. Trade Freedom and Corruption are singled out as areas of substantial improvement, while Personal Freedom is seen as one with substantial deterioration. ¶3. Compared to 2008, Georgia rose four slots and now is 64th, which places it in the middle of the Forbes list, following China and ahead of Brazil. For a regional comparison, Turkey was 44th, Azerbaijan 87th, Kazakhstan 71st, Ukraine 97th and Russia 103rd. ¶4. In the narrative section on Georgia, Forbes credits the Georgian Government for effective revenue collection, improved energy security, reduced regulations and anti-corruption measures. Background on Methodology ¶6. The Forbes fourth annual Best Countries for Business ranking looks at business conditions in 127 economies. The goal is to quantify for entrepreneurs and ivestors the oft-qualified dynamics of international economies and make it usable for planning and investing purposes. The report represents an attempt to identify countries whose economies are better for business relative to others. ¶7. Forbes builds its assessment on expertise, research and published reports from the Heritage Foundation (Economic Freedom Index),World Economic Forum (Global Competitiveness Report),Transparency International (Corruption Perceptions Index),Freedom House (Personal Freedom Index),Deloitte (World Tax Rates),World Bank (Doing Business),Central Intelligence Agency (World Factbook),and Property Rights Alliance (International Property Rights Index). TEFFT