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Is Georgia the Next “New” Wine-Exporting Country? *

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2013

Kym Anderson
Kym Anderson*
Affiliation:
Wine Economics Research Centre, School of Economics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia, e-mail: kym.anderson@adelaide.edu.au
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Abstract

The former Soviet republic of Georgia is reputedly the cradle of wine and has enjoyed at least 8,000 vintages. It has also been a major supplier of wine to Russia for at least 200 years, but to few other countries. In 2006, however, Russia imposed a ban on beverage imports from Georgia. Since then this relatively poor country, in which nearly half the population is rural and most farmers have a vineyard, has been seeking to develop new export markets for its wine. This paper assesses the potential for growth in Georgia's wine production and exports. It then outlines ways to addresses the challenges involved in trying to realize that potential, drawing on the experience of other countries that have rapidly expanded their wine exports in the past two decades. Implications for policy are drawn, particularly for ensuring that poverty is reduced as exports expand and the economy grows. (JEL Classifications: F14, F15, F54, Q17)

Keywords

Export-led growthrural development in transitionwine trade embargo
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Wine Economics , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , May 2013 , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2013 

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Footnotes

*

Revision of a paper presented at a World Bank wine industry seminar, Tbilisi, Georgia, March 9, 2012, and at the Wine Pre-Conference Workshop, ICABR-EAAE Conference, Feudi di San Gregorio, Italy, June 24, 2012. The author is grateful for discussions with many people in Georgia and at the workshop, for very helpful referee comments, and for financial support from the World Bank and (for wine globalization research) Australia's Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation. The views expressed are the author's alone.

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