Nika Gilauri, Head of Bank of Georgia in Turkey and former Prime Minister of Georgia, to speak on achieving sustainable reforms in emerging markets

Nika Gilauri is currently the head of Bank of Georgia’s Turkey office and is a senior advisor at McKinsey and Company. Between 2004 and 2009, he served as Energy Minister, Finance Minister and Prime Minister of Georgia, overseeing an unprecedented era of reform and growth. He is also the founder of the consultancy company Reformatics, and speaks all around the world on the topics of economic reform and development.

In 2004, Mr Gilauri became the Minister of Energy in Georgia. He spearheaded reforms in the energy sector, turning the country from a blacked-out state into a net electricity exporter. He eradicated corruption and introduced new market rules and tariff methodologies.

From 2007 to 2009, Mr Gilauri served as Minister of Finance. Heintroduced anti-corruption reforms in customs services, improving transparency and general services. He also led a reform of the Tax code, simplifying the rules, minimizing ambiguities, and reducing disincentives for entrepreneurs and investors.

From 2009 to 2012, Mr Gilauri served as Prime Minister of Georgia. During his tenure, he continued reforms and despite the global economic crisis, he left officewith Georgia’s economic growth rate above 8 per cent and with Georgia ranked 9th by the World Bank’s ‘Easy to Do Business Report’ (up from 112th in 2006).