Georgia’s banking sector has been at the forefront of implementing good corporate governance practices, helping to strengthen the country’s economic and financial development, World Bank’s report says.

The report finds that, since an Association Agreement between the European Union and Georgia came into force in 2016, the legal and regulatory framework in Georgia has undergone a total transformation with regard to corporate governance and is now closely aligned with good practices.

“During the past 20 years, Georgia has achieved noteworthy progress in improving the country’s corporate governance framework, for example, by adopting the new Law on Entrepreneurs and three corporate governance codes,” said Sebastian Molineus, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus. “To ensure these improvements contribute to economic growth, we believe the focus should now be on effective enforcement of the new framework, with a particular focus on improving corporate governance practices of state-owned enterprises, as well as continuous capacity building among regulators and companies to enhance corporate governance in Georgia”, - reads the report.