Throughout the evaluation period, the Bank Group’s support was deployed selectively, evolved based on analytics, and built on the Bank Group’s comparative advantage. Early engagement during the evaluation period was underpinned by a set of relevant policy notes that identified sector-specific issues, which formed the basis for more strategic policy dialogue and engagement. Sector approaches evolved over time with further investments into analytic work. The World Bank’s support for private sector development moved from business environment reforms to building institutions, such as Enterprise Georgia and the Investors Council, and supporting innovation in the economy. In infrastructure, the Bank Group has helped shift the program toward new priorities, such as an increased focus on maintenance through performance-based arrangements, road safety, and mobilizing private finance. In human capital, the World Bank was responsive to government priorities by improving the efficiency of the UHC program, while also continuing dialogue and diagnostics in other key areas that helped initiate new investment lending and the results-based Human Capital Program.

The Bank Group collaborated well externally and internally and was able to establish itself as a convener of development support when the government faced crises. Strong external collaboration on strategic support for government programs allowed the Bank Group to crowd in financing from other development finance institutions and focus on innovative approaches, hereby maximizing the reach of the World Bank’s analytic and technical advisory. The World Bank’s convening role was particularly important when responding to emerging crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and contingent liabilities in the power sector. Internally, the Bank Group pursued complementarities across sectors.

An adaptive program design, relying on piloting and midcourse correction, contributed to the success of the Bank Group’s program, as did high implementation capacity. For example, the GENIE project was designed to pilot high-risk approaches and was able to successfully adjust by incorporating lessons learned during implementation. In the transport sector, the World Bank maintained a cross-project focus on implementing systems for asset management and maintenance and road safety. Key informant interviews attributed high levels of coordination, programmatic thinking, and implementation capacity to the presence of qualified technical staff in ministries. Bank Group staff responded well to this environment by building durable working relations and by being receptive to government priorities and demand.

Going forward, fostering innovation and supporting trade will continue to be of critical importance for Georgia’s path to economic convergence. The Bank Group’s support over the evaluation period has helped create enabling conditions for growth and increased prosperity. Support for trade reforms, alignment with the acquis communautaire, and upgrading of connectivity infrastructure have created the conditions for greater integration with the EU. Analytic work on the Georgia–Romania undersea cable and multimodal logistics has identified relevant areas for potential future engagement.

Further strengthening of institutions, such as the judiciary sector, will be important for Georgia’s path of economic convergence. Core areas under discussion in the context of EU accession, such as the fostering of democratic norms and reducing the influence of elites over the judiciary, will determine Georgia’s ability to benefit further from EU support for economic integration, innovation, and productivity-led growth. The Bank Group could consider more engagement in complementary areas of governance and institution building.

Lessons

IEG derives the following key lessons that can inform the future country program in Georgia and can be considered for other Bank Group programs:

• Prioritizing Bank Group support around the move toward deeper regional integration was an effective anchor for key reforms for economic convergence. In Georgia’s case, there were notable successes in aligning support with the EU acquis communautaire. This created the basis for economic integration and resulted in a significant increase in trade with the EU. At the same time, Georgia had increased access to financing from European bilateral partners and institutions, such as EIB and the European Commission, that supported critical investments in economic development and convergence enabling the Bank Group to be explicitly more selective in areas where its ASA and operations had more of a comparative advantage and complementarity.
• Pursuing a selective and adaptive approach in a country with high implementation capacity and institutions, strong coordination among development partners, and access to a wide range of external resources can allow the Bank Group to exercise significant influence in areas of comparative advantage and global expertise. In Georgia, this entailed building relationships based on strong analytic and advisory activities, scaling back the World Bank’s own investments and leveraging other partners, and identifying opportunities to focus on developing more innovative engagements.
• A stronger focus on outcome-based programmatic approaches helped build local capacity and crowd in partner financing. For example, the innovative Georgia Human Capital Program identified government priority programs and shifted to a more outcome-based way of financing. This approach presented an opportunity to advance relevant sector agendas, foster local ownership, and provide a mechanism to coordinate partner engagement.