Milestones in Georgia\'s Transformation to a Market Economy

Georgia was named the year's number one reformer in the World Bank's 2007 "Doing Business Survey," improving its overall ranking from 112 to 37. Georgia also improved from 52^nd to 35^th place on the Heritage Foundation's 2007 Economic Freedom Index.
Construction of two new pipelines across Georgia increases its role as a strategic crossroad for hydrocarbon transit in the Caspian region.
Total licenses and permits reduced by 84%, in reforms that eliminated 756 licenses and permits, streamlined procedures, and introduced statutory time limits for government action on applications.
Customs clearance times reduced from 52 to 15 days for imports and from 54 to 13 days for exports as reported by the World Bank's Doing Business 2007 survey. A new Customs regime is producing further reductions.
Fewer taxes and lower rates were introduced by a new Tax Code and further cuts are planned. Continuing modernization of tax and customs administration is reducing compliance costs and increasing revenues.
A new Labor Code, recognized on international indices as one of the world's best, reduces labor costs and increases employer flexibility.
The number of registered taxpayers almost tripled from 2005 to 2006 after introduction of simplified registration procedures for legal entities and physical persons.
Electricity availability significantly improved throughout Georgia in 2006. Two years ago 85% of Georgians outside of Tbilisi were without power on any given day. Today, 98% of paying customers outside of Tbilisi have 24/7 power.
Significant decrease in corruption in the public and private sectors made Georgia the World Bank's top anticorruption performer in its 2006 "Anticorruption in Transition-3" (ACT3) report.
Corrupt and incompetent judges were removed from the bench and replaced with appointees drawn from a pool of candidates who have passed an objective written exam.
Complete reform of the police force resulted in a public approval rating of 70% in an April 2006 poll.
Education reform has introduced nationally standardized tests and merit based entrance into institutions of higher education to eliminate corruption.

Georgia made the most extensive reforms, ranking as the top reformer for the second year in a row. ... It is now as easy to comply with building regulations in Tbilisi as it is in Hong Kong.

World Bank

Doing Business in 2007